


Sugar

by HammeredAlice



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sugar Daddy, Aomine makes questionable life choices, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-11-05 08:06:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11009352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HammeredAlice/pseuds/HammeredAlice
Summary: “Thank you.”“You’re welcome,” a low chuckle rumbled through his broad chest, “it would be shame if you lost such a nice piece. I’m sure it goes with your eyes.”And that’s how he met Kagami-san.Daiki had never planed to become someone's sugar baby, yet here he was, straddling a lap of a man twice his age. He believed he could love Kagami-san, he really believed it, at least until his son walked through that goddamned door and turned his world upside down.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone :D English isn't my first language and I don't have beta, so there might be some mistakes. Sorry for that :D

  A sweaty palm covered his own, lacing their fingers together. “You’re gonna like it, believe me.”

  He didn’t.

  The first time a man laid a hand on him, Daiki cried. Not in the hotel room, of course not, you don’t cry with your face buried in a fort of high end silk sheets, not when the carpet you’ve shed your clothes on is three times more expensive than your entire apartment. No, he kept his face devoid of any treacherous emotions, even went as far as giving the man a warm smile and a goodbye hug, but once the door of his own cramped little apartment clicked shut behind him, he wept. Forty thousand yen, that was the price tag hanging around his neck. He just sold his virgin ass for less than a month’s rent.

  “An important thing to understand is that sugaring isn’t the same as escort,” Satsuki told him the next morning, “but it’s hard to keep a man without sex.”

  Daiki understood. The old farts paid crazy amounts of money just to spend time with him, took him on long-ass shopping sessions which he fucking hated – he wasn’t a girl for fuck’s sake, plus the only way Daiki really shopped for clothes was with Satsuki in tow since his fashion sense was garbage – so there was naturally a moment when they’d demand more.

  The fact that he understood didn’t necessarily mean that he was okay with it.

  Life wasn’t a rom-com and handsome young billionaires didn’t have the need to pay to get a date, much less to have sex. Majority of the men he met could pass for his father, often even grandfather. It made him sick. Thinking about hot young dudes won’t help once you have an old geezer wheezing above you. Thank goodness that old men couldn’t last that long. Daiki could hardly bring himself to hold their hand, not to mention to give them head or whatever.

  He made a few calculations. His sports scholarship used to cover his tuition fees, but that ended once he fucked up his arm for good, so now he was on his own. Combined with textbooks, the costs of living, food expenditures and some additional stuff like clothes and such.. well, he’d have to get at least two part-time jobs to cover it all. That would leave him zero time to study, so scratch that. Daiki might be clever, but he was hardly a genius and law was the hardest shit ever.

  It might be a pretty extreme solution, but finding a sugar daddy got him both resources and the time to properly study. Still, he felt like a trash and none of Satsuki’s professional advice helped to lessen that.

  “Smile, Dai-chan,” Satsuki chirped every other day, “the sad look doesn’t suit you.” Sad or not, offers kept piling up in his mailbox.

  As weeks passed, Daiki developed a plan. He would go on all the fancy dinners, drinks, whatever, and once the guy started dropping hints that he wanted to get intimate, he would bullshit his way out. Of course, even the most dense men figured it out after two or three weeks. That was usually the endgame. They thought that spending so much money on him made them entitled to screw him anytime, but fuck were they wrong.

  Still, some idiots chose to ignore that.

  “C’mon, baby boy,” purred Tanaka-san in the sweetest voice he could manage. “One hundred, what do you say? One hundred thousand yen. That’s a fair price.”

  The annual tuition fee at Todai School of Law was eight hundred and four thousand yen. Tanaka-san was fifty-six and overweight, with a round, pale face and yellow fingertips caused by excessive smoking. Had the offer came three months ago, Daiki would probably clench his teeth and go with him to one of the fancy hotel rooms.

  Only now he didn’t.

  “For the sixth goddamn time, I will not fucking go with you.”

  “One hundred and fifty, then? That’s more than you'd make in a month!” Tanaka’s voice rose above the chatter, immediately causing it to die off. Daiki could see heads snap towards them, he could feel their stares on his neck. Wealthy people are just like any other when it comes to gossiping, if not even worse.

  The chair legs made a rattling noise as he sprung from his seat, ready to get the fuck out of here.

  “Wait, baby boy!”

  Four thick fingers wrapped around his wrist, tugging him back. He froze. Tanaka-san once told him a story about how he lost his pinkie to yakuza. Daiki didn’t know whether it was true or not, but he hoped they’ll take a bigger chunk the next time. Perhaps the head.

  Now causing a scene in a five-star hotel restaurant was probably the most stupid idea he had this week – aside from putting that metal bowl in the microwave, that was a huge, expensive mistake – but he didn’t give a flying fuck. The growl he emitted then would make lesser men shrink. Tanaka-san was not an exception. “You call me baby boy again and I swear I’ll sock you so bad you’ll see stars!” With that, he tore his wrist out of the feeble grip and made his leave.

  The angry stream of “ungrateful, good-for-nothing bastards” coming from the suddenly half-empty table for two didn’t reach his ears. Neither did the footsteps following him out.

  He basically jogged out of the reception, almost running into the automatic sliding door. Did these things always take so long to open? No, that was just his dumb luck! Once he finally set foot onto the crowded street, he took a shaky breath. Crisp May air caressed his overheated cheeks. God, he didn’t realize how fucking _ashamed_ he was!

  On nights like these, Daiki despised himself.

  Why the fuck was he doing any of this?! He should be squatting home, getting ready for the psychology test. This whole sugar baby bullshit would be totally pointless if he got kicked out of the school. Daiki made a mental note to count his savings once he got home. Perhaps he had enough money to cover his tuition until graduation so he wouldn’t have to see any of these sickos ever again, that would be fucking great! And if not, he could sell all the stuff they bought for him. It’s not like he needed silver watches or that black Air Jordans, although he’d hate to say farewell to those.

  “Wait!”

  Daiki was sure he’d do all that, he’d find a part-time job in some convenience store and once again start dating boys his age, he'd do all that if it weren’t for the heavy hand landing on his shoulder. “Hey, slow down!”

  “What?!” He spun around, ready to curse at anyone who dared to lay their fucking hands on him, but he was met with a pair of twinkling ruby eyes.

  “You forgot your jacket.”

  Suddenly, a heap of baby blue fabric was thrust into his arms – Daiki was obviously stupid enough to storm out of the hotel without it – but he found himself unable to tear his eyes off of the angular face smiling down at him warmly. He’d never seen a smile like that before.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” a low chuckle rumbled through his broad chest, “it would be shame if you lost such a nice piece. I’m sure it goes with your eyes.”

  And that’s how he met Kagami-san.

 

* * *

 

 

  The man was hard to describe. He felt like a sky after sunset - no longer vibrant, but still captivating enough to make you stop dead in your tracks and just stare. His hair was slicked back, crimson red over fading black and grey. The grey strands didn’t make him any less appealing, no, they merely added to his charm.

  Daiki would never guess he’d feel so intrigued by someone who was towering over him in so many ways, but he did.

  He couldn’t get the strange man out of his head from the very moment they parted their ways, back on that May night. Kagami-san offered to call him a cab, but Daiki declined, urging the older man to return to his companion back at the Hyatt hotel. The redhead chuckled at that, assuring him that his so-called companion wasn’t actually any more pleasant than the one Daiki just chose to abandon so graciously. In the end, Kagami-san really did call him a taxi. When Daiki came home and tossed the blue jacket in the direction of the laundry basket, a simple white business card fell out of the breast pocket. It said “Kagami Kojiro.” There was a number, the neat figures written in hurry. He smirked for himself – the man must’ve sneaked the card into his pocket before returning the jacket – and texted the number his most sincere thanks. They’ve been swapping texts since then.

  The first date came three days later, in a luxurious café at Toranomon Hills. Daiki fidgeted in his seat the whole time, feeling horribly underdressed as he scanned their surroundings. It was a miracle he was able to keep the conversation going.

  Kagami-san – Daiki prefered to call him that way, even though the man often protested – was America based entrepreneur. His company had an office in Tokyo and he chose to “retire” here, leaving the CEO post to his nephew.

  “So, it’s some kind of a family business, right?” He wondered, long fingers toying with the straw of his non-alcoholic mojito. He didn’t mean to snoop, no, but talking about one's line of work was a normal tactic. He should've noticed sooner that the topic made the older man uncomfortable.

  Kagami-san drummed his thick fingers against the marble table and Daiki just couldn’t fail to notice the obvious lack of engagement ring. His mouth was once again faster than his brain. “Don’t you have a family?”

  _Blunt as fuck._ Kagami-san’s lips twisted into a displeased line, the split eyebrows tightly knit together. Well, shit. He fucked that one up a big time. “Fuck, I’m so-“ Daiki opened his big mouth to apologize, but a lifted index finger made him shut it again.

  “No, it’s okay. You have to know, more so if we decide to form this arrangement.” Kagami-san said in oddly sober manner, totally opposite to the open attitude he showed few moments ago. Arrangement. Even though he tried to deny it, the word stung. It reminded him that this wasn’t a date with a fine older gentleman, no, he was here to sell his time and company. This, after all, was also a business contract.

  “I’m divorced,” the man said, his gaze burning a hole into Daiki’s face, “my ex-wife lives in Los Angeles. We prefer not to see each other.” His jaw was firmly set, as if he were trying to chew something disgusting. “Any more questions?”

  “No.” Daiki imagined he just got a peek at Kagami-san’s business persona – cold and detached, yet honest. Better than all the fake sleazy guys he met before. If anything, it made him even more attracted to the red headed man. “No more questions.”

  “Great.” The fiery red gaze slid over his form, lazy and once again content, all previous coldness gone. “You see, I told you it goes with your eyes.”

  “Oh.” His fingers subconsciously grabbed onto the fabric of his baby blue jacket, toying with its hem. He didn’t choose it for today’s date on purpose, yet it seemed to have the desired effect, if the hungry gaze was something to go by. Daiki couldn’t stop the grin from splitting his face. “I’m fucking hot, huh?”

  “You’d be even hotter if you didn’t talk like a plumber.”

  “Right, sorry,” he beamed, purposely ignoring the mean chuckle following the comment.

 

* * *

 

 

  _One million six hundred and fifty-seven thousand yen._

  Daiki stared at the notebook’s screen, wondering whether to believe his eyes or not. He blinked, blinked once more, bit his lip and checked the total sum again. Yep. He had more than million and half on his fucking bank account.

  “What the fuck?”

  That was even more than his tuition fees.

  He scrambled to his feet and broke into the most ridiculous victory dance ever. Holy. Fucking. Yes. Yes, yes, yes, _god yes!_ He just kicked his foot in a poor imitation of some power ranger move when his shin connected with the wooden desk. “Fuck!”

  Daiki chose to plop down on his ass, clutching his abused shin. Right, don’t get too excited, idiot! The fact that he had the money needed to pay for his tuition was bomb, but there was also the rent and fuck-ton of other bills. He’d have to double the sum to live comfortably until graduation.

  But he could quit sugaring.

  Daiki’s face slacked as soon as the realization dawned upon him. What was he supposed to do now? The only man he kept seeing was Kagami-san – he couldn’t bring himself to actually call the man Kojiro – but he kind of liked the easy relationship they shared and the thought of never seeing the man again made his chest clench.

  It was the end of June, so they’ve been seeing each other for almost five weeks. That would be ten or eleven dates, Daiki didn’t know for sure. Kagami-san took him to dinners, cafés, the usual stuff. He also gave Daiki rather generous allowance – fifty thousand yen a week – even though Daiki repeatedly told him not to do it. None of the previous guys ever gave him any allowance. He didn't know what to do with so much money, so he saved them.

  All in all, Kagami-san was obviously a different kind of man than the ones he dated before. He had traveled the world, spoke three foreign languages while Daiki struggled with his English and certainly was the very best in what he was doing. He often talked about his business successes, about the interesting people he met and about his plans for future with eyes shining like a pair of bloody stars. He should be the CEO, Daiki told him, since the company was obviously everything to him. Kagami-san smiled at him the way you’d smile on a stubborn child when you have to softly dismiss their stupid opinion and then kissed his forehead.

  They kissed a lot. Not in public places, of course not, but once they found themselves beyond closed doors or on the backseat of a taxi, they’d make out. Kagami-san often told him he had pretty mouth, nicely-carved and soft, as if he were made to be kissed. He also told Daiki that it was a shame that such a pretty mouth could come up with such expressions, so Daiki tried to speak properly since then, like a law student and not like a plumber Kagami-san often called him.

  He was changing, slowly but surely molding to fit everything Kagami-san wanted him to be. There was no way he could stop seeing him now. He didn’t need money, all he wanted was to spend more time with the interesting, oddly sad red headed man and perhaps make him smile again - not the cruel chuckle that rumbled through his chest whenever Daiki did something wrong, but the wide, soft smile that stopped Daiki dead in his tracks on the night they met.

  As he sat on the floor of his six-mat apartment, still nursing his hurting shin, Aomine Daiki realized he might fall for his sugar daddy. Yet, he was uncertain of what to do with that knowledge. Should he tell Kagami-san? He could drop a hint, perhaps give him head the next time they were headed back from some fancy dinner. They hadn’t slept together yet, so maybe he could bring that up. Daiki wondered whether the man even desired him – most of the guys demanded him to blow them on the second date, but all Kagami-san wanted was to kiss and maybe grope a little, but nothing more.

  He was torn out of his thoughts by Zetsubou Billy, courtesy of Maximum the Hormone and his currently ringing phone. Daiki groaned. Getting on all fours, he crawled towards the device. Kagami-san’s name shined at him from the touchscreen.

  “Oi, Kagami-san, I’ve jus-”

  “Don’t oi me, Daiki, please,” groaned the man at the other end. Even via phone, Daiki could hear the way his voice cracked – a clear sign that he was tired or over-worked.

  “Yeah, right, sorry. My fault,” he muttered, his previous excitement slowly waning. “What’s going on?”

  There was a long pause. He could clearly hear a loud sight, probably followed by a hand ruining the perfectly neat hairstyle. He almost asked what was wrong, but their previous talks taught him better than that. Even Kagami-san needed time to vocalize some things.

  The silence stretched for few more heartbeats. Just when Daiki’s self-restrains threatened to snap, he was cut off by: “Are you free on Saturday afternoon?” The question was so hurried he almost missed it, but once he realized what was going on, he rushed out a breathless: “Of course I am!”

  “Fine, you'll come to my place then. I’ll send you the address via text. I want you to meet someone.”

  Kagami-san wanted to introduce him to someone? Daiki frowned. Why? They weren’t dating or anything official, he didn’t even accompany the man to any official business parties, so the image of meeting a colleague or perhaps a group of golf club friends naturally made him uneasy. “Who?”

  He should’ve known something was off once he got another long pause instead of an immediate answer. “Who?!” He repeated, this time with more bite.

  He’d rather take on a colleague or perhaps the whole golf club, all of them combined would be billion times easier than what was about to come.

  “I want you to meet my son.”

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone :D First, thank you for all the feedback - IT GIVES ME LIFE!!! - I'd hug ya all if I could. Secondly, this is longer than the first one, but it was supposed to be even longer. I'm usually writing on my phone and the sucker somehow keeps erasing everything I write so I'm gonna post this now before it disappears again and the second part will come later this week.  
> Thank you for reading it!! You're the best ;) Wish you all a nice day!

  “A son?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Are you sure he said that?” One perfectly shaped eyebrow shot up, questioning and doubting him at the very same time. Daiki groaned.

  He shouldn’t have told her in the first place, but Momoi Satsuki was the only person who knew about his little part-time job, being the one who told him about the sugar bowl and all. Who else was he supposed to talk to? The last time Daiki checked, she was juggling at least four guys at the same time, so it was kinda hard to catch up with her, but it was Thursday afternoon already and he was slowly going insane, for fuck’s sake!

  “That’s not fair! I’ve been with Katchan way longer and he hadn’t introduced me to his kids yet,” she pouted, her glossy lower lip jutting out ever so slightly, but of course she would make a great show of it, just as she used to do when they were little and Daiki refused to play house with her. “Do you think he’s ashamed of me?”

  _Oh god, not again._ He recalled that this Katchan of hers was some kind of sportsman she’s been dating for a while, they even went on a vacation together last summer. Still, Satsuki acted like a high school girl around him. “Don’t be stupid! He hadn’t because that would be weird!”

  You just don’t tell your kids you’re seeing someone who’s not their other parent. That’s some confusing stuff. The kid was probably going to loathe him, but then again, Kagami-san said he was divorced and not by Daiki’s fault. Fuck! Why was it all so complicated?!

  Daiki threw an arm over his face. Even though he’d never admit it, he whined. “Ugh, I don’t wanna go there!”

  The jab into his ribs came immediately after that. He sputtered and rolled onto his stomach, trying to hide the abused spot from his pink haired friend while avoiding her death glare. She was obviously against the idea. “Don’t you dare, Dai-chan!”

  “Why the fuck not?!”

  Now arguing with Satsuki might be pointless, but Daiki hardly cared. He felt as if someone was sitting on his rib cage, probably a red headed half-American kid with a judging look on its chubby face, and if snapping at the girl made him feel any better, he might as well do it. Yep, he was a selfish bastard.

  “Because this is absolutely what you want!” Satsuki exclaimed loudly, throwing her arms in the air. The worst part was that while she seemed to really believe her words, Daiki didn’t see a single reason why was he supposed to want something like that. “Listen, Dai-chan, it means Kaga-san cares for you!”

  “Huh?”

  “Well, if he thought poorly of you or if he meant to dump you, he wouldn’t want to introduce you to his son. You know how when you’re dating someone you show them to your parents at some point? I think that’s the same, well, only reverse.”

  Oh. That was surprisingly reasonable. Letting out a long sigh, Daiki sat up. He could accept that Kagami-san meant good when he planned whatever he had planned on Saturday, but the whole thing still made him uncomfortable, especially one thing. “And what if the kid hates me?”

  Daiki recalled he didn’t take it very well when he saw dad with his new girlfriend – his new wife, if he had to be accurate – and this kid was going to get full blast of the same things, plus there’s going to be a guy instead of a girl. He couldn’t possibly imagine a scenario where the whole thing didn’t end up being a disaster.

  Satsuki rolled her magenta eyes on him. “You’re kidding me, right?! You said Kaga-san’s fifty, so his son is probably adult. He’ll understand. Seriously, Dai-chan, there’s nothing to be worried about.”

  “Fine, fine!” He only hoped she was right.

 

* * *

 

  "How are you? Excited? Nervous? Are you getting ready or what?! Oh hell, what are you going to wear?"

  "Calm down, will you? I'm fucking great," Daiki groaned, his free hand still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. It was eight in the morning, for fuck's sake! What forced the damn woman to call him at this time of the day? Oh yeah, right, she wanted to wallow in his misery! "Listen Satsuki, I just woke up and I'm seriously in no mood for a pep talk." He hadn't even rolled out of the bed yet!

  No, the only thing he wanted to hear at this point was "sleep tight" and maybe also "should I get you some banana milk?"

  Of course Satsuki didn't say any of that. Daiki could basically see her rolling her pretty magenta eyes at his childish behavior. "Seriously, Dai-chan, I am worried. Will you be okay?"

  One blue eye cracked open, taking in the peaceful, silent reality of his apartment. Morning lights seeped through thick burgundy curtains, painting the white walls soft red. When did he get the curtains? Daiki didn't know. He reached out with his left arm, intent to brush his fingertips over the sudden enigma hanging in his own apartment.

  Every shade of crimson reminded him of the man.

  Daiki toyed with the rough fabric, deliberately ignoring the awkward, unnatural way his elbow jutted out when he lifted his arm like this, or the hollow pain he could still feel. Instead, he focused on the burgundy and forced his lips to say: "I will be alright."

  "Then call me when you get home in the evening, will you?" Her voice was awfully soft at that moment - god, she was getting emotional again, no way! - and he suddenly felt the need to say something dumb, to make her at least snicker. "But what if I stay the night?"

  Obviously, he chose the wrong thing. Instead of a snicker, Satsuki erupted into squeaks and "Dai-chan, really?" She even started babbling something about proper underwear, but he missed that piece of advice thanks to the ringing doorbell.

  This morning was a fucking disaster.

  "Oi, Satsuki, shut up! Someone's ringing at my door."

  "What? Who is it?!"

  "Dunno."

  Daiki rolled out of the bed and went to get the goddamn door, almost falling on his face in the process thanks to the blanket conveniently knotted around his ankles. Fuck! This morning was hundred percent a headache material.

  There was a guy in black tee, funny backpack in hand, forcing some kind of a package into Daiki's arms and demanding him to sign a form. "But I didn't order anything! Look man, this is a mistake-"

  But the package was already paid for, clearly stated to be delivered to his address.

  Daiki stared at the messenger dumbfounded, before muttering quick thanks and slamming the door shut.

  There was a loud, squeaking noise coming from where he tossed his phone and one impatient girl demanding answers. "Dai-chan? What is it?"

  "Seems like a package? I didn't order a thing, but..."

  "Open it!"

  "Yeah, whatever." Holding the phone with his shoulder, Daiki tore through the plastic packaging and two layers of bubble wrap - which he obviously kept because what's better than popping a fucking bubble wrap?! - until only a black box rested in his hands. _Dior_ , stood there written in fine silver lettering. _Homme Intense, Eau de parfum._

  “What the hell?” Daiki opened the box, revealing a flank filled with pale, amber liquid.

  "So?! What is it?"

  "Seems like a perfume. Says Dior." He didn't even try to read the rest of the words. No, something far more interesting caught his attention -  there was a note stuck to the back of the black box.

  _Wear it for me._

 

* * *

 

 

  Unbecoming, that was the word!

  Daiki felt unbecoming.

  He spent more than half an hour sitting in a taxi, constantly fidgeting and toying with his watches – it was a good thing he didn’t sell them after all -  anxious to already be there and get it over with, yet once the car pulled over, part of him wanted to flee.

  He naturally assumed Kagami-san lived in Minato, probably in some upscale modern apartment. It would make sense since the man spent majority of his day in his office which, in fact, was close to Toranomon. Setagaya was way too inconvenient.

  He understood the choice as soon as he saw the house.

  A middle-aged housekeeper pulled him inside before he could even touch the doorbell. She must’ve seen him from one of the large windows and immediately identified him as “Kagami-san’s new friend.” Daiki wondered how many “friends” had she pulled through that door. Kagami-san was an attractive man and although he didn’t seem like the occasional-hook-up type, he must’ve had his share of lovers.

  She didn’t talk to him, aside from instructing him to put his shoes into the shoe rack and follow her. Daiki begrudgingly did as he was told to, but he couldn’t fail to notice a pair of red and white Jordans sitting on the top shelf. For some reason, he refused to believe they belonged to Kagami-san.

  The housekeeper led him through a hall into what he assumed was a living room – but it could also pass for a fucking dance hall, you know – and informed him that Kagami-san would come in a minute.

  “Um, thanks.”

  Satsuki would love the place. It was straight out of a magazine, complete with black leather sofas, fucking fireplace and all the stuff you would expect, but that wasn’t even the most jaw-dropping thing, hell no.

  There was a glass sliding door, leading into a small, square courtyard.

  Daiki had never been in a place that would have a fucking garden in the middle of the house. That was totally weird, right? What did they do when it snowed in the winter? Build a snowman? Still, he tried to imagine Kagami-san slipping in there to light up a cigarette after long hours of paperwork or just to soak in the sun. The idea suddenly became kind of appealing.

  “It’s nice, right?”

  If voices could be caresses, then Kagami-san’s chuckle would be like a kiss on the cheek. Short. Playful. Like a promise. Daiki spun around. He hadn't realized how anxious he was to be in the redhead's presence again, until now. “Yeah, just… unexpected. But it’s beautiful.”

  He probably looked awkward, standing in someone’s living room with face basically glued to a sliding door, but Kagami-san didn’t comment on it. Instead, he smiled and erased the distance between them in three long strides. “Just like you.”

  Daiki placed his palms onto the broad chest, enjoying the warmth seeping through the fabric of his dress shirt. It didn't cease to amaze him how strong the man seemed. He could probably lift him and carry him wherever he wanted to, if he wanted to. “That was fucking cheesy.”

  “Watch your language, boy.”

  Soft kiss was pressed against his temple. Then brow. Cheekbone. Daiki grimaced as Kagami-san’s mouth traveled down his cheek – the man hadn’t shaved in few days and his scruffy chin was definitely making this way too funny – but all laughter died once Kagami-san found his lips. Thick fingers ghosted over his chin, tipping it up. Kagami-san towered over him in this way, too.

  He wasn’t soft. No. He was firm, all of him was firm and controlled and demanding. It took one flick of a tongue and Daiki was already opening his lips for him, following every movement. Yet, the kiss ended as quick as it began.

  Hot breath grazed over his earlobe. “So you got it.”

  “Got what?” He frowned, but the finger grazing his nape reminded him. Daiki couldn't fight it - he shuddered. “The fragrance? Yeah, the messenger dragged me out of the bed because of it.”

  “And do you like it?”

  Now this was a trap question. How was he supposed to answer? He didn’t know a shit about perfumes. At first, he thought he smelled like a fucking lipstick and vanilla, but then something kicked in and it was quite pleasant, eventually. Satsuki approved when he sent her a photo of the bottle – “this one will get you laid” - so it had to be a good stuff. On the other hand, he wouldn't except anything less from the red headed man.

  “So?” Kagami-san eyed him with curiosity. Finally, Daiki had the time to take in his face properly – he’d never seen him unshaven and it somehow made him seem few years older – but he was actually taken aback by how tired the man looked. The wrinkles on his face seemed somehow deeper today and his eyes were bloodshot. Had he slept at all? Kagami-san often worked late into the night, but he had never looked this bad afterwards.

  Something was troubling the man, that was for sure and Daiki would lie if he said that he didn’t care.

  He forced on a smile. “Yeah, I like it. Thank you.” The last two words were whispered against Kagami-san’s lips before he pressed a quick peck on the corner of his mouth, making the man chuckle. “But you don’t have to send me gifts.”

  More chuckles. Yeah, that was right, _smile._ “What if I want to spoil you?”

  “Well, then I can’t say no, obviously.”

  Finally. There it was, the wide, content smile that made Daiki’s insides melt. “So you don’t mind meeting Taiga? He’s probably still asleep, but Minako-san can wake him up and then we can all go eat somewhere nice, what do you say?”

  And just like that, the cause of his discomfort got a name. Until now, it was just a son, a shadowy figure he had to face at some point. That figure slowly but surely transformed into Jordans-wearing, currently sleeping Taiga. Shit just got real.

  He was going to shake his head, say “of course not” or something along that line. He could do this. It was basically a challenge, right? Aomine Daiki had never backed away from a challenge. Plus, Kagami-san obviously wanted him to know his son and Daiki was paid to make Kagami-san happy. More so, he _wanted_ to make him happy.

  “No, it’s alr-“

  The sound of the doors sliding open made him stop. The same housekeeper that let him inside was now standing in the doorway, hurried expression on her face. “Kagami-san! You have a call! It’s California!” She didn’t even say _sorry to disturb_ or something. What the hell? Still, the call had to be pretty important since Kagami-san disappeared almost instantly. Maybe this California thing was the cause of his tiredness, Daiki thought as he watched the doors slid shut.

  Anyway, he happened to be alone in this fancy place once again, with nothing on his hands. What now? Somehow, the glass door gave him an idea.

 

* * *

 

 

  The jet lag was fucking killing him.

  Taiga had to pry his eyes open basically using force. His sleep-deprived body protested and he drifted out once again, vaguely aware of the sunlight peeking through the curtains and chirping of birds and-

  Angry English shouting? Fuck, he really must be home then.

  As a kid, he heard a shit-ton of English, usually filtered through the wall that separated his room from dad’s home office. It came handy once they moved to Cali, but that was it. He should’ve moved to the room across the hall. Well, too late.

  “Fine,” Taiga huffed, face still buried in the pillow. It was oh-so-soft and he would love to wallow in it for another five hours, but his stomach reminded him that the last food he ate was a tiny burger back on the LAX airport. Now Kagami Taiga might be blind to lots of things, but he’d never ignore the call of hunger.

  Staggering out of his room, he passed the office – “What do you mean _weeks?_ I need it on Monday!” – and headed towards the bathroom. Minako-san would skin him if he dared to step into her kitchen like this, it was more than enough that he went to bed without taking shower at first. Gross. To his defense, he’d fall asleep on the shower’s floor if he attempted to do that.

  The hot water cascaded down his back, turning Taiga into jelly. Fuck, he had to make sure the apartment had at least a decent shower if he couldn’t get a bathtub. Could he afford a bathtub? Taiga wasn’t exactly sure how well-paid the NBL players were, but it should be enough to cover his rent and food expenses and that much was fine with him. He wasn’t here for the money, anyway. Moving back to Japan was kind of an exit route in the first place.

  Of course, he could be rational and face Tatsuya – and eventually even mom, but Taiga would love to avoid that for as long as he could – still, putting the Pacific between them seemed like a better idea. He didn’t exactly get along with his father, but he’d rather risk his chances against him.

  Once he climbed out of the shower, it took him less than two minutes to fish a t-shirt out of his suitcase and voila, he was ready to sack the fridge.

  There was a moment when Taiga considered peeking into the office. When he arrived, dad said something about needing to talk to him, but he was too groggy after the flight and didn’t really listen. He discarded the idea once he heard a sharp: “Are you kidding me?!” This obviously wasn’t the best time to talk.

  He jogged down the stairs and through the hall, the floorboards squeaking under his bare feet. Minako-san was scribbling some list in the kitchen, probably the groceries, but she was kind enough and showed him in the direction of a karaage. She stacked away two portions especially for him. Taiga grabbed the container and disappeared into the dining room before she could scold him for not re-heating it. The woman was as good-natured as they come, but get on her bad side and you'll understand the true meaning of regret.

  He plopped down at the table, practically salivating at the idea of her homemade food when something caught his eye. A motion.

  You see, dad’s house has this little courtyard in the center, accessible via two sets of glass doors from dining room and living room. Taiga used to play there when he was a kid, so he knew the pair of metal chairs and table by heart.

  What he didn’t recognize was the guy.

  There was a dude squatting in the grass, long chocolate-coloured fingers moving in front of his face. He looked like a psycho, Taiga thought, but then he noticed a fucking large, green beetle climbing over his knuckles.

  What the fuck?

  “Hey! Hey, you!”

  The guy lifted his head, blue eyes going wide. He stared at Taiga for almost a full minute, face slowly sinking into a frown before something snapped. He shook off the beetle and stood up. “Uh, hi?”

  Pool boy? Hardly. Gardener? Nope. The guy was dressed too good to be working here. “Who the hell are you?”

 

* * *

 

 

  Fine, Daiki had to admit he was wrong. The garden was fucking rad.

  Kagami-san had been gone for more than twenty minutes. Daiki toyed with his phone, but he got bored pretty quickly and almost fell asleep on one of the metal chairs because you know, napping in the sun had always been his thing. On the other hand, Kagami-san would hardly be happy if he returned and found him asleep, so he just stared at the flowers instead. Then, he saw the beetle.

  He’d always been good at catching these things. 

  “Hey! Hey you!”

  Huh? There was a sharp knock against the glass. Daiki looked up and... What the fuck?

  His first thought was that Kagami-san went to shave, but he quickly discarded that idea. The features, the hair - even the split eyebrows, for fuck’s sake – it was all the same, but the rest was just wrong. A lot younger. Daiki could hardly imagine Kagami-san wearing the puzzled expression, not to mention the sweatpants.

  Oh shit. _Nice to meet you, Taiga._

  “Uh, hi?”

  “Who the hell are you?”

  So, the first impression went to hell. The door slid open and Taiga stepped into the courtyard, barefoot and still holding something that looked suspiciously like a bento container. They stared at each other for a while, rather awkwardly, before speaking up at the same time: “You work there or something?”

  “Aomine Daiki.”

  Fucking great. _Get a grip!_ He spent a better part of last night overthinking this exact moment and how important it was for his relationship with Kagami-san – there was no way he could fuck it up now. Smile, perhaps? “You must be Taiga, right?”

  His smile might do wonders on the old geezers, but Taiga seemed all but amused. Shit, think again. “Kagami-san told you ‘bout me, right?”

  Wrong again. The puzzled face turned into a full-blown frown. “Nope.”

  “Oh fuck.”

 

* * *

 

 

  “Oh fuck indeed.”

  This Aomine guy was staring at him as if he were the idiot here, fuck, he hadn’t had the decency to look... what? Whatever, this was getting mighty annoying. The last thing Taiga could come up with was: “You’re some business partner, then?” Perhaps some college kid looking for an internship?

  At first, Taiga thought he hit the jackpot because the guy’s eyes widened almost comically. He looked like a cat out of meme and – totally out of the context - Taiga caught himself thinking the deep blue of his eyes was actually kind of mesmerizing. That was, until he said: “I’m his date.”

  Wait a minute. “You’re what?!”

  He saw Aomine’s eyes drift somewhere behind him and bam, there was a hand on his shoulder. “Daiki? Taiga? So, I see you already know each other, that’s great!”

  Taiga was grateful that dad showed up because he really needed answers here, right fucking now. He pointed towards the frowning bluenette. “You’re dating this?”

  That gesture didn’t go unnoticed on Aomine’s part. Long gone was the kitty look, instead he took a step forward and sneered: “What’s your fucking problem?”

  That was a fucking dumb question. “You are! How.. how old even are you?!“

  Dad chose that exact moment to interfere, probably thinking that they'll start fighting or something. Oh yeah, he even wore the don’t-fuck-with-me smile of his, he used that on mom all the time. “Daiki is twenty which is none of your concern.”

  See, Taiga got over the fact that his father realized he wanted to date men, even though the glorious realization came after ten years of marriage. He grew up seeing his dad dating variety of guys and he was fucking open minded! Tatsuya was a proof, for fuck’s sake! Taiga wouldn’t bat an eye if Aomine were at least forty because his dad was fifty-four, but this guy – this _boy_ over here! – “ He’s fucking underage!”

  “I’m not!”

  “Taiga, listen. This isn’t America-“

  “Who cares? This is ridiculous! Wait, are you in for the money?” God, he had to be! Taiga couldn’t see any other reason why would a hot guy like this one date someone like his father, seriously.

  He hoped he’ll get at least some reaction, but the two men only exchanged a fleeting look before dad stated: “I’m sorry, Daiki, but it might be better if you left. Should I call you a taxi?” Anyway, that was also an answer, at least for Taiga. Dad did this quite often. When he didn’t want to face something, he’ll hole himself in the office or go on some business trip. This was pretty much the same.

  Aomine gritted his teeth. “Nope. I saw a station nearby. Gonna walk myself out.” He shot Taiga a dark look, corners of that pretty mouth twisting upwards before he did the worst fucking thing he could do – the asshole got on his tiptoes and planted a peck on dad’s cheek. “Bye, Kagami-san. Bye, Tai~ga.”

  And once Aomine left, a hell broke loose.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, this is the first part. I'll probably upload the second one around Friday. Thank you for reading this!! *hugs and kisses*
> 
> Just so you know, Kagadad's house is based on a real estate near Seijo uni and I dig the whole courtyard thing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone :) I want to thank you all for the comments and kudos, you're just WONDERFUL!!!

  "Care to explain what was that supposed to mean?!" Dad held the door open for him, motioning for Taiga to come in. _The office talk_ , fucking great. The last time they had it was back in Cali when Taiga refused to apply for university. Mom gritted her teeth, drove him to dad's place and boom, five years later he was a fucking UCLA graduate. "I was seriously embarrassed of you-"

  "I think that's my line, dad." Taiga stomped into the room. The little bastard with his tippy toed kisses really made him lose his shit - like, how cheeky is that? Twelve out of ten? - and he made sure to tell dad what exactly was he thinking about his new date. "Look, I don't care that you pay for it, but for fuck's sake, find someone older!"

  "Taiga, I told you. He's twenty." Dad walked over to the table and leaned against it, hands resting on the polished cherry-wood. "That's the adult age in this country, just so you know."

  So he was legal, that's awesome. Taiga supposed that was good news. At least he didn't have to worry that his father could be arrested for a child molestation. On the other hand, Japan had famously low age of consent so... No! Shit, that was a wrong thought and he wanted to punch himself in the face because of that.

  Hands flying everywhere, he shouted: "That's not the point!"

  "Then what is?"

  "You don't see it?! Seriously? You could be his grandfather!" One thing Taiga hadn't taken after his father was his ability to keep his temper in check. He was pacing the room, pointing, shouting and whatever while dad just sat there and watched him with a scowl on his face. It was fucking unnerving.

  "Come on, don't be silly."

  Fine, it might be little far-fetched, but it wasn't impossible. "But this is sick! Even _I_ am older than him!"

  Taiga didn't know whether it was caused by the word _sick_ or his dad just realized that his time was too expensive to be spent arguing with him. Probably both. He stood up and straightened, reminding Taiga of the additional seven inches he also hadn't taken after him. Were he tall like that, he would get all the rebounds, ever.

  "Why is it so sick? Hadn't it occurred to you, not even for the slightest moment, that I might genuinely like Daiki?"

  Now it was Taiga's turn to frown. If he had to be sincere - it hadn't. He could hardly imagine dad liking the asshole tan freak. To be fair, he couldn't imagine anyone ever liking him and he'd known Aomine for only like five minutes. The guy might make a fine arm candy, Taiga could admit that, but that was about all. "For real? You know the asshole's in for money?"

  He watched dad's mouth settle into a thin line. Of course he knew.

  You see, you can't win the office talk - it was one more reason to dad's success. You could be talking to him, feeling like you're the one holding all the cards, but he'll say one fucking thing and you're doomed.

  Taiga wasn't an exception. "Fine, fine!" He crossed his arms over his chest, suddenly feeling like the biggest idiot in the world for denying dad the happiness, even though he still thought his objections were justified. "Sorry! Do whatever you want, just don't make me see that asshole ever again."

  But then again, he was in no place to make decisions.

  Crashing in your childhood room when you're twenty-three isn't exactly dream come true. Still, it was exactly what Taiga was doing - it was either this or a hotel and he didn't feel like spending on a room. The thing was, as long as he lived under dad's roof, he had to play by his rules. That was the deal.

 

* * *

 

 

  "What an asshole!" Daiki slammed the door shut. "Who the fuck does he think he is?!"

  There was no one to reply, but he didn't care.

_Kagami fucking Taiga._

  He kicked off his shoes and stormed into the room, ready to turn it upside down. Nope, forget it. He could hardly afford to do that, so instead, Daiki fell down on the bed and closed his eyes. Shit, the idiot pissed him off!

  On the other hand, it went just the way he expected - it was a fucking disaster. But at least he could call Satsuki and say: "I told you so."

  In moments like these, he missed basketball the most. It used to calm him down. The feeling of the worn-out leather ball underneath his fingertips. Aim. Shoot. Score. The stillness of the zone. It was more natural than breathing. Basketball wasn't just a game, no, his whole life used to revolve around basketball. A good opponent could get his blood boiling better than anything - although Taiga's face when he kissed Kagami-san's cheek, that was fucking priceless. Daiki grinned at the memory. The idiot almost popped a vein. Sweet.

  Anyway, Daiki spend the rest of the day napping, stuffing his face with leftover soup and staring at his International Criminal Law essay. He had to hand it in on Tuesday afternoon, but it was supposed to be like two pages longer than what he had and pretty much perfect since the professor hated his guts. He was basically fucked.

  Once he called Satsuki, she immediately started questioning him. “He’s a dick,” Daiki summed it up, “a loud, annoying dick.”

  “So you get along just fine.”

  “What?! No!” There was no way he’d ever get along with that red fucker. Wait - did she just said he was a dick?! “Satsuki!”

  “Is he hot?”

  “Don’t be stupid. He was shouting at me while holding a fucking bento.”

  “That doesn’t mean he can’t be hot.”

  “Ugh.” What did she want to hear? The guy resembled Kagami-san so much Daiki had a hard time concentrating when he saw the two of them together. It was as if someone took the older man and turned him upside down, with all the dripping hair, sweatpants and crumbles of whatever stuck to the corners of his mouth. Still, they shared the same striking features. “Maybe.”

  “Dai-chan!” Her squeak was so loud Daiki had to pull the phone away from his ear or he might be risking partial deafness. “Gosh, now I wanna see him!”

  “Satsuki, I told you he’s an idiot.”

  “Well, you called Imayoshi-san Satan at first and how did that end? You know, I met him the other day and he was asking about you...”

  There he was, thinking the day couldn’t get any worse.

 

* * *

 

 

  _Sorry, but I can’t._ Daiki’s fingers skimmed over the phone screen with a skilled ease. He wished he’d only be that good when it came to writing essays, that would make his life thousand percent easier. He just spent thirty hours writing, re-reading, erasing and rewriting the ICL essay - fine, he slept half of the time – and was positively desperate.

  "Desire leads to will which is the cornerstone to motive." The sentence didn’t sit with him and Daiki just couldn’t figure out what the fuck was wrong with it. Was it too straightforward? It might seem as if he were implying that desire inevitably leads to motive which obviously didn’t have to be true. He desired to strangle many people, but that didn’t make him a mass murderer.

  Nope, he had to rewrite it. Just when his fingertips touched the keyboard, a low buzz took his attention away.

  Kagami-san kept texting him for last fifteen minutes, refusing to take “no” for an answer. Now Daiki wasn’t exactly known for his patience, quite the opposite. He grabbed the goddamned phone, ready to tell the man to just cut it because he was quite busy here, but he forgot about that as soon as he saw the message.

  _Come on, I just made $100M deal. Let’s celebrate. Also, Taiga wants to apologize._

  Apologize, huh?! Daiki smirked. He doubted Taiga wanted to apologize, no, it was more like his dad was making him apologize. Man, that must be hard on him. Well, if it was so, then he couldn’t refuse. _Congratulations! When and where?_

  He hadn’t even put the phone down and it was already buzzing with reply, saying _Mandarin Oriental, 7:30 suits you? Smart casual dress._

  _Fine with me._ With that, he tossed it on the bed and returned to his essay.

  It was already mid-afternoon when he realized how giddy he felt. You know, the weird tingling thing in your stomach that you get when you’re simultaneously insecure and looking forward to something. It was kind of like being on sugar high - ideas kept pooling, fingers drummed against the keyboard faster than ever and before long, he was done.

  He was just looking forward to seeing Kagami-san again, that’s all, Daiki thought. He felt like this before. Still, the vision of the idiot’s suffering made it even better. Oh, should he feel bad? Nope. This was probably what Satsuki felt every time he told her about his dates and she hardly ever felt bad.

  Daiki proof-read the essay once again, finally deeming it worthy. Now all he had to do was shower, find the place’s address and get ready.

 

* * *

 

 

  Turns out that professional basketball players could afford a bathtub.

  The apartment was pretty much all he hoped for - one living room slash kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, balcony, the usual stuff. It was spacious and modern, but nothing too large or too fancy, just fine enough for a single guy. The only bug was that he would have to wait until the first of July. That meant five more days at dad’s house.

  But Taiga guessed that if he survived tonight, then he will pretty much survive anything.

  He still couldn’t believe it – dad wanted him to apologize! Why the fuck should he do that?! He didn’t give a flying fuck whether he offended the Aomine asshole or not. He should’ve chosen a different career than being a fuckboy if he weren’t prepared to be called out on it. Still, Taiga understood that dad cared for Aomine – even though he didn’t understand exactly _why_ – so he was willing to swallow his pride and do it. He owed his father at least that much.

  The afternoon was spent fussing about some legal documents, then he soaked in the bath downstairs. They were headed to a fancy place in the city centre, so he made sure to eat before he left. These places usually had the serving size fit for a kid, not for a grown-ass man and certainly not for a man with Taiga’s appetite. Tatsuya used to say he could eat a whole cow in one go. Well, there were times when Taiga believed him.

  He took the train to Shin-Nihombashi. Tokyo was bustling with life even on Monday evenings, full of tourists and people rushing to their night shifts.

  He found the hotel quite quickly. At first, Taiga was slightly confused why the hell were they dining in a hotel instead of a normal restaurant – he would bet Tokyo had some fine places – but then he realized he was about to eat dinner with dad’s date. The dinner was most likely only the beginning of their program.

  He shuddered at the unwanted mental image. Ewww. Family dinners just reached a whole new level of awkwardness.

  Taiga had never been in the Mandarin Oriental before. The place wasn’t anything flashy, at least from the outside, but once he stepped into the reception, he was glad he dressed for the occasion. Had he came in shorts and t-shirts, they’d probably kick him out.

  Now this was the part where the problems began. The hotel had more than ten places where you could eat and Taiga had no clue which one was the one dad chose. He low-key hoped he’ll be the last one to show up and just let them lead the way, but that obviously wasn’t the case here.

  Dad was late and so was Aomine. 

  He tried to call dad, but the number was unreachable, so he ended up standing in the lobby, looking lost. Fuck, Taiga hated situations like these! Minutes passed and he was just standing there, idly toying with his phone until he caught the security guard eyeing him. Alright, it was probably the best time to retreat. Taiga shot one last look to the security guy, squinting his eyes at the grey unifo-

  Suddenly, his side connected with something solid. There was a muffled "oomph." Oh shit, did he just elbow someone? Taiga immediately grabbed the person's arm, holding them up. "Fuck, pardon! Are you all right?"

  "Shit! Watch your step, asshole!"

  _Oh no._ He should've hit the idiot harder.

  "Shut up! You obviously weren't paying much attention yourself."

  Aomine Daiki straightened, one tanned palm still resting protectively over the spot where Taiga's elbow connected with his stomach. His kitty-shaped eyes held a murder intent. Taiga wondered if he could take the fucker down in a fist fight, if the possibility ever came. They were probably the same height, alright, the tan freak might be an inch or so taller, but Taiga was definitely built broader and bulkier. Yep, he would beat the ever-loving fuck out of him. Maybe later.

  He gave the bluenette a once-over - the boy frowned when he caught that look - before muttering : "You gonna be all right, idiot. Anyway, where's dad? I can't reach him."

  "Stuck in a traffic jam," Aomine huffed, "he said he'll be there in twenty minutes." Then he took out his phone to support the statement, but Taiga's attention was once again on the security guy coming their way. He might not know the place where they were supposed to meet, but Aomine could. "Hey, do you know where the reservation is? I don't wanna stand in the lobby the whole night."

  "Nope. Do you?"

  "Eh, not exactly..."

  "Oh god," Aomine rolled his pretty blue eyes on him, basically asking to be punched in the face, "then c'mon, Bakagami."

  What was that? What did the fucker just call him?

  "Bastard!" Taiga growled, but the bluenette was already waltzing towards the reception, completely ignoring him. He seemed used to places like this, but that's probably bound to happen when you're dating old millionaires for living. Taiga wondered whether Aomine had ever been in this particular hotel. He made a mental note to ask later. "Wait, Ahomine!"

  Thank goodness he was so tall and easy to spot.

  Once Taiga caught up with him, he was already leaning onto the polished red wood of the reception desk, charming mode going full blast. When he noticed the approaching redhead, Aomine motioned for him to come over. "Oh, good evening. Sorry to bother you, but my friend over here" - a pair of long, tanned fingers brushed over Taiga's sleeve, successfully distracting him - "made a reservation at one of your restaurants and forgot which one, the silly. Would you be so kind and tell us?"

  What was the idiot doing? He was smiling and batting his stupid long eyelashes at the receptionist as if it was supposed to work! Okay, it worked. Aomine's hair shone deep navy in the light of the chandelier, probably soft and fluffy and kind of begging to be grabbed-

  The lingering touch disappeared, replaced by a vicious kick to his shin. He hissed, ready to tell the blue fucker to shove it, but Aomine turned to face him with a pout. A really bad mock-pout, that was for sure. "Pay attention to the lady!"

  "Eh?" Why? _Oh shit, right!_ The receptionist was now looking at him as if she expected Taiga to say something. Her cheeks were tinted heavy pink, probably from Aomine's charm onslaught. "What name? Sir, the reservation you made-"

  Of course! "Uh, Kagami. Kagami Kojiro."

  She flashed Aomine a sympathetic half-smile - what the fuck was going on in here?! - before tapping something on the keyboard, then she looked back at Taiga. "The reservation is into the Sense restaurant on the thirty-seventh floor, the staff here will show you your table."

  "Thank you!" They said in unison, anxious to get the fuck out of here and get some drink, at least on Taiga's part. Yet, they managed like three steps each when the receptionist called out: "Kagami-san, you've also booked a room - thirty-first floor, Deluxe Room, king-sized bed, right? Would you like to check in now?"

  A room?! Why the fuck... Okay. So he was right about the beginning of their program. From the corner of his eye, he caught Aomine's staring at the receptionist in mild shock, lips making a little O. They must be looking like a pair of idiots.

  "Oh my, I'm so sorry! Did I spoil a surprise?" She gasped.

  “Uh, yeah. Something like that.” Taiga felt a heat seeping into his cheeks. He could also feel Aomine's confused gaze on the back of his neck and it was making him even more nervous than the whole lying thing. He blurted out: "Can we check in after the dinner?"

  "Of course, but please do it before ten o'clock."

  “Fine, great.”

__

* * *

 

 

  Daiki had been watching Taiga from the corner of his eye since the moment they stepped into the elevator. The redhead was fidgeting, all the fucking time. He seemed pretty uncomfortable, constantly tugging at the cuffs of his shirt and looking everywhere but at Daiki. Well, at least he wasn't blushing anymore. When the receptionist asked about the room, the guy's face was even redder than his hair.

  "Dude, calm down. You looked like you'll get a cardiac arrest!"

  Oh yeah, and the red spots were back. Taiga turned to face him, eyebrows twitching furiously. "Because it looked like the room was for us! The two of us!"

  _Yeah,_ Daiki thought so. He had no clue Kagami-san booked a room and while the knowledge made him shudder in anticipation, it also made something in his stomach sink. Clearly, Kagami-san expected the evening to end up with something more than just a goodbye kiss. Daiki would like that, obviously, he liked the older man and enjoyed his touches - it was just that every time he slept with a sugar daddy, it ended up all wrong.

  Still, Taiga's reaction was plain hilarious. Riling him up was honestly so easy! "You should be flattered. I'm fucking handsome." 

  "I wouldn't touch your ugly mug with a pool cue."

  “Oi! Take it back!”

  The restaurant was dimly lit, yet undeniably luxurious with floor-to-ceiling windows and wooden pillars. Everything seemed wooden and creamy with fancy glass details – there was just so much to see.

  The two of them were waiting for a someone to verify the reservation, bickering about whose face was more horrendous when Kagami-san caught up. His hair was a little disheveled, but Daiki fixed it for him.

  “It’s nice to see you two get along without shouting at each other.” Somewhere to his right, Taiga scoffed.

  A waitress in pink uniform lead them to their table. It was a table for three, stuck directly to the window.

  Daiki felt a warm hand on the small of his back, steering him towards one of the seats. Kagami-san sat on his left, a wide smile spreading over his face as he told them the story of his latest success. Daiki understood that he made a deal with some company in California and it should secure his company for another decade. Suddenly, the pieces clicked together - so this was the California call from Saturday, the one that made Kagami-san so tired!

  The older man seemed genuinely happy about it, calling it a great victory that needed to be celebrated and so on. Daiki did his best to smile and nod even though he didn’t understand half of the things Kagami-san said. It hardly mattered since the man was more concerned of his son’s opinion. “See? We could expand! The Hong Kong office could-“

  Taiga, on the other hand, seemed only annoyed. He stared out the window most of the time, half of his face lit by the orange lamp light on his side, red eyes darkened. “Dad, you know I don’t care what you do with the company.”

  They ate in silence. The food was Cantonese and probably the best Daiki ever had, but not even a top-class cuisine could mask the suffocating mood surrounding their table. Even Kagami-san was slowly losing his previous excitement. It was obvious that the two men had some unspoken problems, probably linked to Kagami-san’s company. Daiki didn’t feel like asking about it. No, that would make Kagami-san’s evening even worse and he was paid to do the exact opposite. Plus, if they really were about to end up in a hotel room, he’d rather have the man in good mood.

  As the evening progressed, he discovered that a brush of fingertips against one’s knee could work wonders. At first, Kagami-san froze - Daiki wondered whether he fucked up or not, after all they never touched like that in public – but then his lips curled in a knowing smirk. _Mission accomplished._

  Daiki was just enjoying a spoonful of mango coconut cream with sago when he caught the angry red stare burning a hole into his skull. Taiga was squinting at him, face twisted in something akin to fury. He held the gaze. Seriously, the guy got on his nerves. What got his knickers in twist this time?

  He got to know as soon as Kagami-san excused himself to the restroom.

  “So, do you normally fuck guys for living or is my dad some exception?”

  _Oh no, you better don’t._ Daiki was seriously tempted to kick the fucker under the table. Their legs were brushing all the time so it should be no problem.

  “Cause where I come from we call that a hooker.”

  “Look, I don’t give a fuck what you think, so take your ideas and show them,“ he growled, illustrating the statement with proper gesture in case the redhead were just as dumb as he looked.

  Frankly, Taiga got the idea. His crimson eyes gleamed in the orange lamplight, teeth bared in mock smile. “I would, but that’s your speciality.”

  The fucker even had the nerve to wink at him.

  “Son of a bitch-“

  Now Daiki was this close from stabbing the redhead with the fucking salad fork, but Kagami-san chose that exact moment to materialize in front of their table. He was glad – being charged for an assault wouldn’t exactly work for him. But on the other hand, he really, really wanted to punch Kagami Taiga in the face.

  They spent the rest of the dinner glaring at each other, swapping insults. This time, Taiga was the first to leave which made Daiki weirdly happy. The redhead tossed some bills on the table, murmured “good night dad” and “bye Dai~ki” before heading to the elevators.

  Daiki watched his back – strong broad back, looking damn fine in that shirt, he would give him that much – disappear, still amused by the way Taiga said his name. Smooth fucker. 

  Without the younger redhead here to distract him, Daiki was suddenly all too aware of the room Kagami-san had booked. He hadn’t paid the man that much attention the whole evening, so perhaps Kagami-san will be annoyed with him and just send him home. If so, then it was totally Taiga’s fault.

 

* * *

 

 

  “Enjoy your stay, sir.” The receptionist handed Kagami-san a plastic card and repeated the number of their room. It was the same one that believed he and Taiga were a couple - she also recognized him, Daiki could tell by the frown that appeared on her face once Kagami-san showed her his ID. “Oh, and is your companion legal? Sorry to bother you, but I have to ask because of the hotel’s policy.”

  Now it was Daiki’s turn to flash his ID at her, but instead of looking at her face, he chose to study the patterns on the reception desk.

  It’s not like he was nervous or something. Okay, maybe a little. Fine, he was kinda nervous, but that was because Kagami-san was pretty much every sugar baby’s dream – well-off and handsome while also being so damn kind - and Daiki really wanted to make tonight count. See, the fact that he looked like a walking sex didn’t immediately mean he was _that_ experienced. The guys he’d slept with so far were all over forty and not exactly eager to take things slow. As for Imayoshi, well that was another story.

  “You’re silent all the time,” Kagami-san pointed out when the elevator door slid shut. ”Is something wrong?”

  One of his hands came to rest on the small of his back, drawing slow, comforting circles. Daiki leaned into the touch. It was really nice so why was he acting like a this? “No, everything is okay.”

  He could feel the hot breath ghosting over his temple, followed by a faint kiss. There was no stubble to tickle him today, just warm skin sliding against his, making him shiver. "Are you sure?" Kagami-san pressed closer to him. His hand sneaked further onto Daiki’s hipbone, fingers toying with one of the belt loops. “If you want to go home, just tell me.”

  “Don’t wanna go home.”

  And that was it.

  He let Kagami-san lead the way.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone :) Now this one came out a little bit shorter, sorry for that.  
> I want to thank you for all the comments and kudos and hits since I really didn't thought so many people would read this and I'm so honored and obviously rambling.. just wanted to tell you that I appreciate all the feedback you gave me so far. You're great! Now, excuse me while I go hide somewhere..

  He didn’t apologize at all, Taiga realized moments later, but then he was already halfway to the train station and didn’t feel like going back just to make a fool of himself. What was he supposed to do? Walk up to Aomine and be like: “sorry that I offended you” or “I don’t really mind what you’re doing here?” No fucking way, that was insane.

  The night air did nothing to soothe his headache which was probably Aomine-induced, anyway. Shit. Taiga wondered if the guy had any idea what effect he had on the people surrounding him – see, he just spent two solid hours with him and wanted to kick his pretty butt ninety-five percent of the time. The other five percent, well, Taiga had mixed feelings about them.

  It sort of amazed him how quickly Aomine came up with the “my boyfriend forgot his reservation” bullshit. To be fair, the receptionist had zero chance. If Taiga had been behind that desk and didn’t know the blue fucker, he would probably fawn over him, too.

  But he knew Aomine.

  He also noticed the way his hand disappeared somewhere under the table in the middle of dinner and all the looks he and dad constantly exchanged. Did they think he wouldn’t notice? They could at least keep that to the damn room, for fuck’s sake!

  All of it combined made Taiga snap. He just wanted an excuse to punch Aomine in the face - perhaps that would wake him up and he would finally realize how crazy this whole thing was. If a split lip could stop this nonsense, then Taiga was more than happy to deliver. Seriously, thirty years age gap, that was a lifetime and half on Aomine’s part! There was no way he wouldn’t mind it.

  “Fuck!” The sudden curse startled some poor lady walking past him. Taiga stuttered a quick apology and started walking faster.

  His ability to get into shitty situations often amazed him.

  When did his life become such a mess? Oh yeah, probably the moment his drunk brain decided that confessing to his best friend and teammate was a good idea. It was no wonder that Tatsuya punched him, really, he would have punched himself too, being in the smaller man’s place. What he didn’t expect was that the whole team would know the very next day and you see, one can be called “hey faggot” only so many times before it becomes too much.

  So, there he was. And it wasn't any better.

  Maybe spending on a hotel room wasn’t such a bad idea. Taiga wasn’t sure he could look dad in the eye if they met tomorrow, so maybe he should just grab his suitcase and find some cheaper hotel.  Yep, that was a mighty good idea.

  After all, this wasn’t his shit to deal with.

 

* * *

 

  The room was probably the size of twelve mats or a tad bigger, with the same floor-to-ceiling windows they saw in the restaurant. Once again, Daiki ignored the view – he had no desire to watch the city lights, not to mention his own reflection staring back at him awkwardly. The expanse of glass reminded him of a display window. Of course, they were in the thirty-first floor so no one could really see them even with the lights on, but he still itched to draw the curtains shut.

  He could hear the tell-tale click of doors. For the first time ever, he was truly alone with Kagami-san – no taxi drivers, no housekeepers, no one to walk on them. It was relieving, yet also terrifying at the same time.

  Somehow, he could still see the receptionist’s look when she asked for his ID. The corners of her mouth turned downwards ever so slightly, but there was that alarmed urgency in her eyes as if she wanted to ask: _What the hell are you doing, boy? Who’s this man? Where’s your boyfriend? Is this the surprise?_

  It made him want to hide.

  He should’ve left, should’ve excused himself in the middle of the dinner and just go home, but no, he was too stupid to admit that when it came to sex with older men, he might have some issues. After all, there was a reason he developed the whole bullshitting tactics and it was to prevent him from this exact situation. Why the fuck did he toss it away? Right now, Daiki envied the redhead asshole immensely. Taiga was somewhere out there, probably still sneering and cursing under his breath, but he was heading home.

  “Daiki?”

  Right. He must be looking dumb, standing in the entryway, doing nothing. Kagami-san already took off his jacket and his skilled fingers were now loosening the tie before he could pull it off and put it away. “Um, yeah?” He must’ve been expecting some kind of action from Daiki, too, but the only thing he's been able to take off so far were his socks. 

  “Are you alright?”

  “Yeah, yeah, just spaced out a little, sorry.”

  Kagami-san frowned at that, but didn’t dig any deeper. Daiki observed the way he worked on his cufflinks, then buttons, and finally, with one fluid motion took off his shirt.

  _God almighty._ Somewhere in the back of his mind, Daiki knew he'd look like that, but seeing him in person was something totally different. Sort of scary. Kagami-san might not be all defined muscles and such, but he was obviously strong and in good shape for his age and Daiki's brain was gonna short circuit because this was all too real. Oh shit, he wanted to scream.

  “We haven’t talked about the price yet. How much do you usually charge?” _Welcome back to reality._ This was a business after all, no lovey-dovey first night. “Will one hundred be enough? I mean, hundred thousand?”

  _Where I come from we call that a hooker._ Daiki bit his lip. “That will do.” It was more than enough.

  “Alright. Do you want to watch me send the money or do you believe me?”

  That was a stupid question. “Of course I believe you!” Daiki frowned. He had no reason to think Kagami-san would take advantage of him. Obviously, he chose the right answer. The redhead smirked.

  Okay, he could do this. He liked this man, this kind, caring, oddly sad man who had never done him any harm. This time, it will be good. Since the moment they met, he was looking forward to every single date and tried so hard to make the redhead happy, yet when Kagami-san sat down on the comforter and said: “come here,” all Daiki wanted was to go home.

  What if liking someone wasn't enough?

  One large hand patted onto the bed. He moved. It took only three steps and he was standing in front of the older man, leaning in to kiss his frown away. Kissing, he could do. He was used to the firm mouth against his and the glide of tongue, even the hand cupping the back of his head. The man was pulling him closer and soon he was straddling Kagami-san’s thighs. They'd never done this before. Daiki dug his fingers into the man’s shoulders, suddenly afraid that he would somehow slip and fuck up another limb, but Kagami-san held him tight. One strong arm curled around his waist so he rested and let the man support his weight. Yet, that was obviously wrong.

  “Wait a moment. This won’t do,” Kagami-san chuckled against his jaw, making Daiki blink because _what?_ “Stand up.”

  “Uh, okay.” The motion was awkward and he almost ended up on his ass, but Kagami-san still eyed him as if he were the most delicious thing ever and that's what counted, right? Right, he told himself. Still, his insides wouldn't stop shaking. Daiki watched the man move further onto the bed until his back sank into the wall of neatly arranged pillows. He smirked: “This will be better, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah, cool.” The mattress dipped under his weight. He crawled towards the older, feeling all awkward underneath the burning red gaze, but this was Kagami-san and Daiki wanted this too, didn't he? There was no need to be so goddamn tense all the time. Seriously, what the fuck was wrong with him?! Just a week ago, he was wondering whether Kagami-san even desired him or not and now when he had the man all for himself, he would act like a high school girl?

  No fucking way.

  “Much better,” he smiled once he crawled back onto Kagami-san’s lap. This way, he didn’t need to worry about falling anymore. In sudden surge of braveness, Daiki leaned forward and kissed the man again, actually taking the initiative for once. The move was highly appreciated. He could feel the hands traveling down his sides, thumbs sliding over his ribs as if they were counting them and _shit_ , it tickled. He giggled against Kagami-san’s mouth.

  The man must’ve taken it as an encouragement because his fingers sneaked under the hem of Daiki’s pullover, tugging it up.

  Alright. He could do this.

  He felt kind of lightheaded from the constant kissing, but his brain was functioning enough to take the hint. He sat back, even lifted his arms as Kagami-san pulled the cloth over his head. Crimson eyes slid over his chest, burning. “Look at you!”

  He didn’t realize how cold the room was until now.

  The redhead chuckled as he sat up. Daiki felt his warm palms slide down his sides once again, guiding him closer until he was pressed flush with Kagami-san’s firm chest. What was he supposed to do with his hands, again? “So beautiful,” the redhead whispered against the curve of his neck. His lips ghosted against Daiki’s skin, making the fine hair on the nape of his neck rise. Shivers ran down his spine – the good kind of shivers – and he tried to bury his face into the man’s hair, tried to hold onto his shoulders, but Kagami-san was already moving again.

  "I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

  He took Daiki’s palm and placed it between them, over the bulge in his trousers.

  “Let me see you.”

  The praises didn’t make him feel any better, well, nor did the obvious erection under his palm. This was going pretty fast, wasn't it? Not any faster than the men he'd been with before, but he still hoped for something slower, some kind of affection, just... something. There were fingers fumbling with his belt buckle, constantly brushing over his own dick, but all Daiki felt was the panic rising in the back of his throat. Why? Why was he so fucking useless when it came to this?

  “You’re so good for me.”

  Kagami-san was smiling at him. There were strands of hair falling into his forehead, soft and fading red. He must've been such a heart-throb when he was younger, Daiki caught himself thinking. He must've looked kinda like Taiga-

  _What the actual fuck?!_ Why?! This was no time to think about the redhead fucker! 

  Kagami-san chose that exact moment to roll them over. Suddenly, it was Daiki who sank into the fort of pillows with Kagami-san's weight pushing him further into the mattress, making it hard to breathe. "Shit!" This was a fucking mistake. He'd been in this position before, crushed under some older man and hey, turns out he still hated it. "Kagami-sa-ah!"

  There was no answer, just a clink of a belt-buckle - the sound was incredibly loud to his ears - and oh shit, he knew he was being a selfish bastard here, but Daiki really wasn't ready for this, he didn't want to, not even for Kagami-san as much as he'd like to make the man happy. "Uh, Kaga-san, I-"

  "Hmm?"

  "I, eh, really like you and all-"

  "That's nice."

  "But I can't.. Fuck.. I-I don't wanna-"

 

* * *

 

  "Please, please, don't be angry-"

  If it were anyone else, Daiki was sure they would roll their eyes at him, but Kagami-san only gave him a chuckle. "I'm not. It's probably my fault anyway, I shouldn't have rushed you so much."

  "You sure ain’t angry?" He must've sounded pretty pathetic. On the other hand, who the fuck wouldn't be angry?! He just chickened out of sex in fifty thousand yen hotel room and wasn't even able to explain why. "I'm so fucking sorry!" Daiki fought with the white pullover, almost putting it on inside out. He tried to move quickly, but the only thing he managed was to be clumsier.

  "Will you get home this late?"

  "Yeah, yeah." He could get home even later, that was an advantage of living in a big city. "Oh my fucking god." Fumbling around with his shoelaces was the last thing he would like to do, but his fucking fingers wouldn't stop shaking and "shit," he fucked up so hard!

  "Daiki?"

  Right, the swearing. "Sorry, Kagami-san."

  The man was standing there in the entryway still only in his pants and scowling down at him in a way Daiki had never seen before. He really didn’t seem angry, no. Sad. Disappointed. But not angry.

  He was running away from a man who wanted his company so much, why was he such a wuss? Satsuki had told him several times that he would hardly keep a man without sex, but something in that stupid brain of his just refused to deal with it. This man was actually nice to him. He was supposed to like sex, so what the fuck was wrong with him?!

  It was just like the first time and it didn't matter whether he ended up with a dick up his ass or not. He still wanted to cry.

  "Wait!" Kagami-san hurried out. "Come to my place, tomorrow."

  _What?_ Was this man for real? He blinked at him, frowned, but nothing changed - Kagami-san was still there with something akin to hope written all over his face, expecting answer.

  “I can’t, gotta go to school.”

  Then, he moved.

 

* * *

 

 

  The hotel was called Forest Hongo. Taiga would hardly choose a place like that – not that it wasn’t good, no, it was clean and silent and all the things you want when it comes to a hotel – simply because it was hidden somewhere in Bunkyo and Google didn’t offer it when he searched for _cheap hotels in Tokyo._

  It was actually Minako-san’s idea. Apparently, her daughter was the manager here and she was more than eager to offer him a room for a friendly price. Of course, the whole thing involved a full-scale interrogation and a promise of visiting once he settled down in his own apartment, but Taiga didn’t mind. He’d still much rather spend the day answering Minako-san’s questions than watching dad’s scowling face.

  Something must’ve gone sideways because he showed up before midnight. Taiga caught another glimpse of him when he went to get breakfast – dad was leaning against the kitchen counter, frowning at his phone and sipping coffee, looking mighty annoyed. They didn’t talk. He would lie if he said it didn’t make him at least a little bit happy.

  Check in at Forest Hongo started at three p.m. That was a nuisance. Taiga, unaware of that little detail, arrived right before noon. The receptionist politely sent him to hell, but was actually kind enough to offer him he could leave the luggage at the front desk.

  Taiga planned to kill the time by wandering around the neighborhood. He saw a leaflet at Hongo advertising some gardens and shrine nearby. Yet, that plan was botched when he stumbled over a place called Maji Burger. It reminded him of American fast food chains, so he slipped inside to try it out and _man_ , that was the best burger he had in Japan so far. The waitress seemed mildly concerned when he went to get six more.

  But there was something even greater than Maji Burger awaiting him at Bunkyo.

  A basketball court.

  It seemed as if karma decided to reward him for not strangling Aomine.

  By the time he finally returned to Hongo to check in, Taiga was sure this was the best day he had since his arrival. He had good food, a quiet room and an opportunity to practice just around the corner. Some people might call him simple or lazy or unambitious – cough, cough, dad – but for Taiga, it was basically the definition of happiness.

  There’s no need to say that he headed to the court immediately. He bought a ball when he arrived, but there was no court near dad’s house and he didn’t feel like traveling all over Setagaya to find one. When was the last time he threw a ball? A week ago? A week and half? He hadn’t had many chances to play while organizing the whole moving-to-different-country thing and his body already itched to get moving.

  The streets were a bit busier than the last time. Taiga was walking along a red brick fence, making his way through a crowd of people – or against the crowd, to be accurate, because he was obviously missing some important detail here – when something caught his eye.

 _Blue._ A familiar shade of blue, sticking out of the crowd not far away from him.

  Aomine was the first one on his mind. “Huh?”

  Shit, had the bastard started haunting him or something? No way! That was hardly Aomine. The guy walking towards him was wearing baggy cargo shorts and really weird band t-shirt – dad would hardly go out with someone like that, no fucking way. He was fumbling around with his messenger bag. Taiga felt like a creep for staring at strangers like that, but hey, it wasn’t his fault – the guy had even the same dark skin! It was as if Aomine’s distant cousin walked towards him.

  The guy found what he wanted - which happened to be a loudly ringing mobile phone - and finally lifted his head. Now there was no mistaking in that face. The high cheekbones, the slant of his nose, even the shape of his eyes. 

  “Hello. What? No, I told you, I can’t! I have a lecture.”

  He moved to a different ward to run away from this preposterous bastard and now he’ll bump into him on the street?! The universe must be shitting him.

  “Aomine?!”

  The guy looked around for a while, confused, but then their eyes met and _fuck_ , Taiga knew for sure it was him. Aomine recognized him too. The blue gaze slid down his form until it settled on the sports bag. He frowned. “Sorry, I gotta go. Bye.”

  At first, Taiga thought the fucker was talking to him. He thought that the guy would turn on his heels and go back where he came from, but Aomine didn’t. Instead, he tossed his phone into the messenger bag and scowled even deeper. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

  “That’s my line, idiot!” There were more than thirteen million people in this city and he had to meet this guy. “What are _you_ doing here?!”

  “I asked you first!” Aomine growled. One long finger pointed towards Taiga’s sports bag. “Is that a bomb or what?”

  Before he knew, Aomine was leaning in to take a peek into the open bag, so he snatched it away. Nosy bastard! “Hey! Mind your own business! What are you doing here in the first place? You’re not going to meet dad in that, are you?” He pointed to the shirt. It was black with some red design on the left side, but Taiga was unable to decipher what the fuck was it supposed to be. A skeleton? Some nuclear explosion? A spider?

  Whatever it was, Aomine took it as a personal offense. “Oi! This is official Maximum the Hormone merchandise!” He grabbed the shirt's hem and lifted it for Taiga to see. Nope. It was still skeleton spiders and explosion. “Gosh, you’ve never seen Death Note?”

  Taiga shook his head. “Nope. What’s that?”

  Aomine raised one fine eyebrow at him as if to say _what the fuck is wrong with you,_ but then he snapped out of it and scoffed. “Anyway, this is my school. I had to hand in some shit and now, if you be so kind and get the fuck outta my way, I’d like to go home.”

  The harsh tone kind of startled Taiga. He didn’t mean to piss him off that much, seriously. “Alright, alright, whatever floats your boat.” He took the sports bag off his shoulder and stepped closer to the fence in an over-the-top gesture, motioning for the bluenette to pass.

  “Asshole,” muttered Aomine. Taiga could see his eyes slip towards the sports bag once again – so he really was a nosy one – and he thought of giving him a good bye punch, just for a good measure, but he was stopped by: “Wait, you play basketball?”

  “Huh? Yeah, you bet I do." Why should it be such a surprise? "Why? You wanna play?" 

Aomine gave him a once-over. It was fleeting, but there was something in his eyes, something Taiga hadn’t seen there before. When he came to think about it, from this close, Aomine didn’t smell all that weak himself. 

  “Only if you’re any good.”

  Oh, the fucker didn’t have any idea what was he getting into.

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :D I don't know what to say to this, beside the fact that I thank you for all the comments and kudos you leave, they're balm to my soul, seriously :D You're the best ;) Hope you'll like the chapter!

  What the fuck just happened?

  Taiga buried his face into the towel. Shit. Bringing it was a fucking genius move, he’d pat himself onto the shoulder if he wasn’t so busy catching his breath because _what the actual fuck just happened?_

  He had a hard time wrapping his head around the whole thing, much less trying to describe it.

  Aomine was doubled over few feet away from him and what was spilling out of his mouth was probably the filthiest thing Taiga had ever heard in his life, and mind he grew up in America. “Once more,” the bluenette wheezed when he finally, finally calmed down. Seriously?! For brief moment, Taiga considered throwing the towel at him, but he didn’t, obviously, since that would be gross.

  “No fucking way.” His own voice came out raspier than he’d ever heard.

  He didn’t even need to look at the other’s face to recognize the snarl. “C’mon, Tai~ga!” And that was it. The fucker wasn’t allowed to say his name in that way anymore, period. It reminded him of the tippy toed kiss and that was a thing he’d really, really love to erase from his mind. He gritted his teeth. “Shut up and gimme a break!”

  Aomine watched him plop down on the burning concrete with a sinking face. He reminded Taiga of a kid being denied a cookie and if someone could ever make that look adorable, it was Aomine. He grumbled: “Fine, then.” Did this guy really want him to spit his lungs out or what?! No shit, he did! But on the other hand, the pout was kind of working. Just when Taiga considered giving up and saying good bye to his lungs, the tan freak scoffed and took off his fucking t-shirt.

_What the hell?!_

  You see, that startled him. After all, this was Aomine and Aomine was doing things with his dad and Taiga didn’t want to see him stripping for the sake of his sanity. “W-what are you doing, idiot?”

  “What do you think?” The bluenette shot him a dark look. “It’s fucking drenched!” He took the black cloth and laid it out next to his bag, probably hoping the sun will dry it. “I’m not gonna sit around in it and risk catching a cold!”

  “Uh, okay.” He didn’t see any logic in that, but if Aomine believed it, then alright. He was also drenched in sweat, but that didn’t mean he was going to strip. Or watch the other do so. Instead, Taiga laid down completely onto the warm concrete and closed his eyes.

  The game was insane.

  Aomine was _fast_ , so fast that the first time he bolted forward, Taiga just stood there and stared at the empty space. If they were in a cartoon, there would be a puff of blue smoke left of him, that was for sure. The guy was all about speed. He’d probably make a damn good sprinter, but that was it. Once Taiga recovered from the initial shock and started defending, he hadn’t had that much of a chance. It was as if you took two totally different people and sewed them together. Aomine sure played basketball before, he knew what he was doing, actually, he knew even what Taiga was about to do, not to mention that his right hand was absolutely wicked. Seriously, the flick of his wrist will haunt Taiga’s dreams for days.

  His left was a polar opposite. It took like two minutes for Taiga to realize that Aomine was only playing with his right. He tried to dribble with the left hand too, at first, but he managed to bounce the basketball only once or twice before it either lost its speed or went in totally different direction.

 It's absolutely normal to prefer using certain hand. Taiga used to play mainly with his right too, back at high school. The thing was, once someone found out and decided to force him to use his weak hand in the game, he was pretty much fucked. The same could be said for Aomine, but once again, the fucker was freaking _fast_. Every time Taiga scored he’d push himself to go even faster until the game became sort of a crazy chase – Aomine would get the ball, he’d either shoot one of that trick shots of his or he’d try to somehow outrun him. Once Taiga caught up, it was usually over.

  Still, he was amazing. Taiga could only imagine how fucking awesome he’d be if he were able to play with both hands, on top of that speed. _Shit_ , he’d be pretty much unstoppable.

  Suddenly, Taiga felt the urge to ask him if he knew that improving your weak hand was a thing. It took time and required lots of practice, but it was definitely worth it. He opened his eyes and turned to face the guy. “Hey, Aho-“

  But Aomine was asleep.

  Taiga’s first thought was to shake him awake. The sun was shining pretty hard and lying half-naked on a concrete was the best recipe to get a nasty sunburn. Then again, Aomine wasn’t probably that prone to burning with that chocolate skin tone and all. No, there were no angry red patches. If something, he only glowed.

  His chest was rising and falling in slow, steady rhythm. _Up and down, up and down._ He’d never thought Aomine could look so peaceful. Until now, Taiga had always seen him frowning or smirking or making that murderous face, but never like this. This was different. Everyone could see he was pretty, after all, that was the reason why they met – because dad could see it, too – but Taiga guessed it didn’t dawn on him until now how fucking beautiful the idiot actually was.

  And he fucked his dad.

  Even thinking about him would be foolish. Fortunately, Taiga already wasted his share of unreachable crushes on Tatsuya.

  He bit his lip and watched as Aomine’s lashes fluttered against his cheeks. When the blue eyes opened moments later, Taiga didn’t look away.

 

* * *

 

 

  He was warm. Sleepy. Also sore.

  His elbow was seriously hurting now, sharp, throbbing pain pooling halfway down to his forearm. It always did whenever he tried to move it for longer periods of time. Basketball, push-ups, even washing dishes – it didn’t matter. It was a good thing he wasn’t left-handed because then he would be afraid to even jerk off.

  Daiki would lie if he said he was happy, no, he was far from being happy.

  Kagami-san had been calling and texting him almost non-stop since morning, but he didn’t know what to say to the man. Should he apologize again? No. He said sorry so many times it already sounded cheap, there was no need to make it even cheaper. He fucked up, that’s it. Still, he got paid for the dinner and Kagami-san wanted to see him again, preferably today. He wanted to talk.

  How the man’s mind worked was far beyond Daiki’s comprehension. Fuck, he didn’t know if he’d ever be able to look him in the eyes again, much less talk to talk to him about certain things. No, this was an endgame. After all, they weren’t lovers, so Kagami-san didn’t have to put up with his issues. Who would want a sugar baby that wouldn’t sleep with them?! Right. No one.

  He told Kagami-san he had lectures in the evening. It was obvious he was lying – he’d never had any lectures on Tuesday evenings, hell, he’d never had any evenings lectures in general! Kagami-san must’ve already realized that he was just avoiding him.

  His head was a mess. On one hand, Daiki didn’t want to lose Kagami-san and not only because of the crazy money he earned. He liked his kindness and refined charm. On the other, he was doing everything that was in his powers to do so.

  “Hey, Aho-“

_Taiga._

  He just popped out of nowhere with a basketball and insulted his beloved t-shirt as if he happened to be the epitome of style. No fucking way. Daiki was basically obliged to kick his ass.

  Only he couldn’t. He’d hardly admit it out loud, but Taiga was good. Real-deal good. Even back in his days, Daiki would probably have some difficulties overcoming that defense of his, not to mention the jumps. Was he a fucking rabbit or what?! There were videos of NBA players going for a dunk while jumping over the head of a mascot, a human adult-sized mascot, and yeah, that was Taiga. High school Daiki would’ve pissed himself with joy had he ever played against someone like him.

  The redhead figured out what was going on after first four rounds. He was glued to Daiki’s right side since then - forcing him to switch hands was a one-way ticket to Loserland. It was exactly as the coach told him – he could bullshit some guys with his formless shots and speed, but he was pretty much useless against the stronger players, not to mention that playing with that elbow could do even more damage.

  It was frustrating. Daiki opened his eyes. He was going to get up, snatch his hopefully dry shirt and go home.

  But Taiga was staring at him. He was squinting against the late afternoon sun, split eyebrows drawn together as if he were thinking hard. Or planning where to hide his body once he killed him. Whatever it was, it made Daiki pretty uncomfortable. He sneered: “What are you staring at, asshole?!”

  That seemed to tear the redhead out of his musings. He muttered a quick apology and sat up, elbows resting on his knees. “I was just wondering,” Taiga started, “have you ever tried to play with your left?”

  “Bakaga-“

  “Shit, I’ve never seen shots like that! If you practiced you could go pro in a year, two tops.“ The redhead wasn’t looking at him anymore, instead he studied his shoes.

  He’d rather have Taiga punch him. “No.”

  “I know it’d be annoying-“

  Yeah, it was annoying. Lying here and having a fucker he hardly knew telling him what should he be doing was fucking annoying, especially when it concerned basketball. Imagine you’d be short-sighted and someone told you to try harder. Just… _How the fuck?!_ “That’s useless effort,” he scoffed. There was no way he’d be losing his time on something that couldn’t be achieved, not to mention it would hurt like a bitch.

 

* * *

 

  What the fuck?

  Twenty minutes back the fucker was all riled up and cursing his left to hell and back, but he was too lazy to do something about it?! “Listen, asshole, there’s nothing like useless effort! You just have to work for it!“

  “Shut up,” the bluenette hissed, but it wasn’t the usual I’ll-rip-your-head-off hiss. From the corner of his eye, he could see Aomine moving – a smear of midnight blue and tan – and bam, suddenly he was squatting in front of him. At first, Taiga though he was going to get punched. There was no hit though.

  “How would you fix this, smartass, huh? Tell me!”

  He blinked. What was he supposed to fix? He saw only deep frown and scrunched nose, there was nothing exactly out of place until the guy straightened his arm towards him. “Fuck.”

  He’d never noticed. They played basketball for more than hour and Taiga still somehow missed how _wrong_ Aomine’s left arm was. Shoulder, biceps, triceps – that was alright, more than alright – but the elbow was sort of twisted. Also, the forearm wasn’t in the straight line with the rest of the arm as you’d expect, no, it was going sideways in a way that shouldn’t be even possible, much less natural. It shouldn’t work. Taiga reached out and touched the elbow, gently, sort of afraid that he’d hurt the other. “What happened?”

  “It’s gross, right?” Aomine chuckled bitterly. “I broke it this winter, the elbow. Guess the doctors didn’t bother to set it right.”

  It didn’t feel any different. The skin was warm and smooth, no scars. Taiga heard himself huff: “This is crazy.”

  “It’s not noticeable most of the time.” Aomine pulled his arm back. His face sank even further – for a fleeting moment he looked strangely vulnerable, not like the cocky idiot Taiga knew him to be. “I just can’t play anymore.”

  So he used to play, after all.

  He sure as hell must’ve been amazing.

  Aomine shook his head and got up. Taiga watched him walk towards the single bench. His back was slightly redder, probably from lying on the concrete for too long, the red patch stretching from his shoulders to the dip of the small of his back. “Isn’t there any chance to, you know,” he asked, “cure it, somehow?” It was a stupid question, he knew.

  “Yeah. They could re-break it, then try to set it back again or fuck it up totally. I don’t want to risk that.” The bluenette pulled on his band shirt. It had the same skeleton spider thing on its back, but much bigger and this time, Taiga could actually make out the name of the band. It probably wasn’t his cup of tea. “Whatever, I’m gonna head home now. Have to do homework, you know.”

  For some reason, Taiga couldn’t imagine Aomine doing anything school-related, at least not willingly. Still, here he was, grabbing the strap of his messenger back and leaving without as much as goodbye. What was the fucker thinking? You can’t just have a game like that, then basically say you won’t play anymore and walk into the fucking sunset. That’s not fair!

  Taiga had always been a blunt one. He lacked Tatsuya’s ability to talk people into doing what he wanted and his mouth had always been faster than his brain, but even he was surprised when he heard his own voice calling out: “Hey, Aho! I can beat your ass even single-handed!”

  Well, at least he wasn’t as surprised as the tanned male. Aomine turned around, lips slightly agape. It took him quite some time to decipher what the redhead just said – well, Taiga wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by that himself – but the corners of his mouth turned up so it was a win.

  “I’ll wipe the floor with you, idiot!”

 

* * *

 

  Daiki wasn’t sure what to think. Why would Taiga want to play against him when it was obvious who’ll win? It was stupid. Also, sort of humiliating, at least for him. But to play one-on-one single-handed? What the hell?! He suspected the redhead wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box, but seriously, he had higher hopes for him. Daiki shook his head. It didn’t cease to amaze him how stupid the guy could be, but alright.

  He had to be equally stupid to agree on that, anyway.

  The store was packed with people. He grabbed a cherry popsicle and placed it into the cart among other groceries – mundane things like bread, ramen or banana milk – before heading to the counter. It might come off as childish, but he really felt like treating himself after successfully surviving the last four days.

  He blamed Taiga. Everything was moderately alright until he showed up and started making ruckus. 

  “Thank you.” He walked out of the store with the popsicle in hand.

  They still hated each other’s guts, right?

  There was nothing else to do, really. The two of them could hardly become friends, between the redhead’s constant bitching and Daiki’s sugar duties, that would be weird. Still, they agreed to meet again on the very same court. 

  Guess it was just Daiki missing the game too much, but then again, basketball had been his life since he could remember. He went through lots of teenage angst thanks to it, but also his first crush and first boyfriend and all the nice things. Yeah, that was it. He missed basketball too much. When the coach told him he’d be useless, he stopped playing altogether and now there was a guy who was all _one-on-one, fucker, one-on-one_ even after he saw his fucking arm.

  Alright, maybe Taiga wasn't that bad. Anyway, he asked for it and _oh_ , _Daiki was so going to kick his ass._

 

* * *

 

 

  Uncomfortable or not, there are things in life you just don’t avoid, like, let’s say, paying rent or headbanging to certain songs. The same goes for sugar responsibilities.

  He called Kagami-san as soon as he got home. The man was obviously annoyed by his antics – who wouldn’t be? – but they agreed to meet anyway. This time, it was Kagami-san who opened the door to him, not the housekeeper. He seemed to be working from home today, at least if the mountain of papers on his desk was something to go by.

  There was only one chair – a black, upholstered one, wedged between the wooden desk and smaller bookcase – and Kagami-san, being the gentleman he was, motioned for him to sit down.

  “Neither of us acted exactly professional,” he stated and Daiki once again had to lift his head to see him in the eyes. It felt kind of like being a high school kid called to principal’s office. “I’m afraid this won’t work anymore.”

  Here it was.

  Daiki didn’t know what to say beside: “I understand.” He’d been thinking about this talk since yesterday, thinking about how the redhead got zero reasons to go on seeing him when he wasn’t getting anything in return, aside from his company which wasn’t all that pleasant, at least according to majority of people he met. Rationally, it was nonsense. He understood that much.

  Yet, once faced with the reality of their relationship ending, well, sticking to the plan wasn’t that easy anymore. After all, the man was so good to him, treated him with kindness and _he fucked it up_.

  He watched Kagami-san walk over to the window, lips pursed into thin line. Ha, he was doing it again, the long silence before something important or too personal. _Perhaps._ The sunlight was bringing out the silver in his hair and Daiki tried so hard to trample the small spark of hope smoldering in his chest.

  “Look, I really enjoy your company, but if we’re going to continue this arrangement, we should stake out some new rules,” pair of ruby eyes was on him again, but Daiki only blinked. He opened his mouth to say something, hopefully something more eloquent than “uh, alright, of course,” but he failed.

  He wasn’t being dumped. _Wow._

  “Firstly, I’d very much appreciate you not making cover stories when you don’t want to meet. Let’s be honest with each other.”

  Shit. Right, that had to come, obviously. Daiki started studying the hands folded in his lap, feeling more and more like a scolded child. He knew it was disrespectful of him and the man didn’t deserve such treatment. “Sorry about that. I won’t do it again.”

  “That would be great,” Kagami-san grimaced, but his face already lacked the previous coldness. He was still acting detached, though. Daiki couldn’t blame him. “Secondly, if you’re not comfortable with me touching you, just tell me.”

  “It’s not like that!” He blurted out. He didn’t want Kagami-san to think he didn’t like him as a person because Daiki did. _Shit, that wasn’t even making any sense!_ “I like you! It’s just..”

  “Just what?” Kagami-san watched him, intent to hear that mysterious reason of his. Oh yeah, Daiki would very much love to know it too. Back in that hotel, he just panicked. Sex was always about gritting his teeth and waiting till the guy came, then getting the fuck out. It’s not like _he_ ever came with a dick up his ass! Nothing enjoyable. It made him feel as if he really were just a hooker and, well, he might be too fucking vanilla to get off on that.

  “Look, I, uh, fuck-“

  Great, now he was rambling.

  Kagami-san arched one eyebrow, but said nothing. Daiki took a deep breath. _Just spit it out._ “I-I just need to go slow, okay?! Super-slow. Foreplay and stuff.” Long-ass foreplay, caresses and stuff. See, if he was to have sex with someone, then he wanted to feel like he mattered. Was it so weird?

  He’d never seen Kagami-san make that face. At first, he seemed too stunned, eyebrows joining his hairline, but it generally melted away until only amusement remained. “That’s it?” He chuckled. Wait, did Daiki’s discomfort amuse him?!

  He frowned. “Yeah, so what?!”

  The man walked over to him, closer than before, and this time Daiki really did have to look up otherwise he’d be staring at his waist. Or crotch, depending on the angle.

  There was a hand on his cheek, thumb caressing the soft skin under his eye as if to sweep away a fallen eyelash. Still, Daiki willed himself not to close his eyes. He wanted to decipher the strange half-smile on Kagami-san’s face, wanted to know what was going through his head - could he care for him the way he wanted? The thumb slid down and brushed over his over his bottom lip.

  “You know,” the man said, crimson eyes twinkling with controlled hunger. The intensity of his gaze made Daiki shudder. “If you want something from me,“ the tip of the thumb slipped between his lips, “you ask.”

  He contemplated biting on the digit, just to feel more in control.

  “It’s easy. You ask, I’ll provide.”

  The thumb disappeared, no, the whole hand disappeared and he was being pulled upwards. Not roughly, though. As soon as he registered what was going on, his body caught up and he rose from the chair on his own, facing the man as well as he could. Kagami-san was cupping his jaw, guiding him the way he wanted and Daiki _obeyed_. “You want to go slow? That’s fine with me,” he murmured against his lips, “we can go _so_ _slow_.”

  He let himself be pulled into a kiss, lips sliding against the other’s with practiced ease. It was just a kiss, innocent at first, but it deepened and soon he could feel Kagami-san licking into his mouth in a way that made him melt. The kiss had to drag for years. Daiki had to hold onto the man’s arms for support because his mind was all hazy and he didn’t believe his knees anymore, but Kagami-san was here, walking him back until his backside hit the desk, all while ravaging him in that oh so perfect manner. He was probably sitting on some important report, but neither of them seemed to care. Daiki opened his legs so the man could settle between them just comfortably, but Kagami-san was pulling away and not even the fingers digging into his biceps could stop him.

  “See?” The redhead wiped his mouth and took in the sight in front of him. “I can do slow just fine, don’t you think?” If he sounded a little bit mean, then Daiki didn’t hear it over the sound of his own heartbeat. Or perhaps his panting.

  “Now, the rest of the week is going to be quite difficult, including the weekend, but I’d like to meet you on Monday afternoon. Are you available?”

  “Yeah,” Daiki nodded once he caught his breath. “Monday’s freaking great.”

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! I'm back *low-key evil laughter* I love all the feedback you gave me so far! Thank you! Hope you will enjoy this one, let me know ;) Bye

  “Keep in mind that people scoring higher on the dark triad can often come off as more socially adept. They make very good first impressions. They might seem confident and sure of themselves and as we already know, majority of people tend to follow such figures. Their lack of anxiety about opinions of others also helps them to do better on job interviews…”

  The phone in his pocket buzzed softly and Daiki reached for it, happy to take his mind off the psychological rant. Not that he paid much attention, anyway.

   It was a text from Kagami-san, short and simple: _What are you doing?_

  “…Paulhus suggested the list to be expanded of a fourth trait – everyday sadism…”

  _Psychology lecture. Nothing interesting,_ he typed. _What are you up to?_

 _I’m at lunch with a group of men that want my money. Psychology is useful, study hard. What do you want me to bring you?_ When Kagami-san sent him home yesterday, he told him they won’t see each other for the rest of the week since he was going on a business trip to Sendai. He had to be really busy, yet still, the man found the time to get Daiki presents. Such a sweetheart! Daiki battled the smile that tried to split his face – he didn’t need Waseda-san asking him why was he smiling at his own crotch – and typed a quick reply. _Something sweet, thank you! Work hard!!_

_As sweet as your kisses?_

  Just what?! He checked the message again in case he was imagining things, but nope. God! Daiki slid down the chair, congratulating himself for not making any embarrassing sounds because Jesus fucking Christ, how could Kagami-san be so cheesy!

  He tucked the phone into the sports bag resting by his feet, wedged it between his water bottle and the ICL textbook. See, Daiki was ready to meet the redhead asshole this time - when he packed his books, he threw in his old basketball shoes and some comfy clothes so he could change before heading to the court. There were reasons why people didn’t play in slim fit jeans after all.

  “We will proceed to study the four main traits in detail at the seminars,” Waseda-san took off his glasses, a clear sign that the lecture was about to end. “If the topic of dark triad intrigues you, feel free to take one of the personality tests Paulhus designed. That’s all for today, thank you for your attention.”

  Finally.

  He bolted out of the lecture hall and made a beeline towards the restrooms, almost knocking over some poor girl in the process. The only thing he and Taiga managed to agree on was that they’ll meet to play one-on-one today, the unimportant details – like when or who will bring the ball – died off in their bickering. There was a huge chance Taiga wouldn’t even be there, so why the fuck was he so giddy about it?!

  Oh right. Of course - he was going to play basketball! That’s it!

  He burst into the first free stall. It wasn’t the cleanest one, but who cares?!

  Daiki always looked forward to basketball – ignore the high school angst period – but he could hardly remember the last time he was so anxious to get onto the court. Not since Teiko, that was for sure. More importantly, when was the last time he clashed with someone on Taiga’s level? Heh, probably never. He kicked off his jeans and hurled them into the sports bag, ignoring the fact that they’ll be rumpled as fuck at the end of the day. Someone wanted to play against him! Shit, when was the last time someone wanted to play against him? Not even Imayoshi did that and they were dating for _years_.

  He rushed out of the stall, enticing a startled “dude, what the fuck?!” from some guy with pants mid-way. He wasn’t hot and Daiki didn’t bother to apologize because you see, it was almost four in the afternoon and Taiga could already head home or to work or wherever he pleased and Daiki really wanted to play that one-on-one-

  _Calm the fuck down._

  This was Kagami fucking Taiga he was thinking about. The guy hated his ass to hell and back and he was freaking out because he might miss a chance to meet him? Seriously?! What’s wrong with him?

  Then again, he wanted to kick his ass so bad!

  Turns out Taiga was just as messed up as him. When Daiki got onto the court exactly seven minutes later, he was already here, throwing the ball from what would be the three-point line if anyone bothered to paint the lines properly. He didn’t miss. On the other hand, Daiki would be sort of disappointed if he did. The ball made a soft _swoosh_ sound as it went through the net, then bounced off and rolled in his direction.

  He picked it up. That was the moment Taiga noticed him – his tell-tale frown settled in and if Daiki didn’t know better, he’d say that the redhead tried to skin him with that gaze – and sneered: “You’re late, dipshit!” 

 

* * *

 

  Okay, okay, he wronged Aomine on that one! They didn’t set the time they’ll meet which was, in retrospective, really stupid since Taiga arrived onto the court around lunchtime. Now it was four in the fucking afternoon and he was bored out of his mind – like, bored to the point where he repeatedly tried to throw the ball from the other end of the court, only to miss every damn time – when finally, the blue fucker chose to show up.

  “You’re late, dipshit!” He growled. Of course, Aomine paid him back in double. “Shut the fuck up, will you? I was at school!”

  “Uh, right.”

  Why hadn’t he thought about it? The last time they basically bumped into each other in front of Aomine’s school gate. Plus, he couldn’t be coming from a date or anything. There was no way in hell dad would hang out at the fancy places with someone whose shirt said _click click boom._ Needless to say, Aomine looked just as ridiculous as the last time. Well, not entirely ridiculous, no, it was just Taiga not being used to his weird-shirts-wearing self. In fact, he looked okay. More natural. On the other hand, Aomine could probably pull off anything and look good. It was just something about the fucker’s face. “Sorry.”

  The bluenette just scoffed. Taiga watched his back as he waltzed over to the bench and put down the sports bag with a small huff. The bench protested a bit louder. What the hell was he dragging around in that bag? Bricks?!

  “So, uh… What do you study?” He asked, hoping to break the angry silence.

  “Law.”

  “Wow.” Taiga had never been good with memorizing long pieces of text nor any definitions. Sometimes, he still wondered how the hell did he manage to get that degree and truth to be told, he expected Aomine to be even worse. “That’s a hard stuff, isn’t it?” He had two-semester business law course and that shit was like a torture.

  “It’s not that bad,” the bluenette sighed, "it's pretty logical once you get into it." Then, he stalked over to face Taiga, asshole mode going on full-force. "Probably not your cup of brandy, Tai~ga."

  Great. The images of their Saturday encounter were back, vivid, complete with the little kiss. Once again, he found himself tempted to just curl his fingers around Aomine’s long neck and _press_. The little shit was seriously bringing out his mean streak.

  "I see, so screwing old farts for money is a hobby!"

  It was Aomine's turn to fume and man, fume he did. He was in Taiga's face in no time, features twisted in pure fury. "You don't know shit!" And so, the tirade began.

  The strangest thing was that even while snarling profanities, Aomine remained undeniably beautiful. His chocolate skin got flushed and the deep red tint made him look sort of delicious, open, a polar opposite of Tatsuya’s strictly controlled self. He imagined this was Aomine’s bedroom face - wild, flushed, with kitty-shaped eyes blown wide - and with that one treacherous thought came a sudden need to grab a fistful of that soft blue hair and just fucking headbutt the fuck out of him. It would be a win-win on both sides, really. The bastard would be in pain and Taiga would maybe snap out this weird haze, that would be great.

  But he did no such thing.

  “You think this’s my fucking career goals?!” Aomine’s voice rose a tad higher. From the corner of his eye, Taiga saw someone stopping behind the court fence. They probably overheard the ruckus and now awaited to see some kind of fight. Fucking vultures. Alright, he won’t have the shithead washing their dirty family laundry in front of an audience. “Shut up. You know what? You’re right! It’s your live and I don’t give a fuck what you do with it! You wanna play ball? Fine,” he thrust the basketball into Aomine’s open arms. There was a hollow thud as it connected with his rib cage. “Stop whining and play.”

  The guy didn’t need to be told twice. He took the ball and walked over Taiga as if he were nothing but a high school boy.

 

* * *

 

  There was a moment - maybe ten seconds if not less - when Daiki felt this pang, this urge to pardon himself in the other’s eyes, to prove the redhead that he wasn’t the kind of person he obviously thought him to be. In that weak state of mind, he wanted the other to see him just as he was now – no sugar coat, only him, just as he did the last time they played - but of course Taiga didn’t give a fuck. And why should he? They weren’t anywhere near friends and Daiki knew it, so what was he trying to achieve there? It’s not like he needed any validation from this daddy-issues asshole!

  Taiga stayed true to his word. He tried his best not to use his left hand and actually paid so much attention to the task that he often missed Daiki’s most obvious openings or forgot to move altogether. He acted so unnatural that even watching him surely must been painful, not to mention playing against him. Victories like this had always tasted cheap.

  And apparently, they were also short-lived.

  It took a while, but Taiga eventually got a hang of it all and the wide point difference began to quickly melt away. It felt even better than their last game, without the humiliation of being pushed around all the time. They chased each other, faked, stole the ball seconds before scoring and blocked each other’s shots - it was just plain intoxicating. Daiki relished in the feeling. His knees might be trembling and his elbow felt like falling off soon, but fuck them both, he couldn’t get enough of this.

  “Once more,” he wheezed for the millionth time. Damn, his lungs were on fire! It was getting dark already – how long have they been playing, again?

  Probably for hours.

  “C’mon, lazy ass!”

  The redhead was standing under the net, doubled over, palms resting on his knees. He was obviously out of breath, but there was a shit-eating grin on his face, perfectly mirroring Daiki’s own. Yeah, Taiga was definitely his kind of basketball maniac. When he heard the demand, he straightened up. “Yah, ‘kay, but this’s the last one,” he panted. Drops of sweat were running down his temples and he wiped them with the hem of his jersey, revealing a strip of muscled torso to Daiki’s wandering eyes - holly fuck, the guy was ripped! – and if that was a distracting tactic, then it totally worked since Daiki almost missed the next line.

  The motherfucker dared to smirk at him: “Alright then. Come at me, bitch.”

  He would swear he heard the Kill Bill siren blast off.

  He’ll fucking murder him once they’re done here.

  See, their playing styles might be similar in some ways, but the differences still prevailed. Taiga might be jumping higher than fucking Mario, but Daiki was faster and he planned to make the best of that speed. The redhead naturally expected him to go right – he was going to move that way too, shifting his weight, ready to bolt – so instead he went to the left and ran for it. Well, it didn’t work. Taiga had few additional pounds on him and Daiki’s right side just connected with them, quite hardly in his opinion, but not before he managed to make that shot. The trajectory was sort of weird, but he had managed to shoot from weirder positions. The ball lingered at the rim for one nerve-wrecking second before finally, finally sinking in.

  He won.

 

* * *

 

 

  He didn’t know what possessed him, which stupid, useless part of his brain decided it was a good idea to call Aomine _that_ , but once the word was out, there was no going back. At first, he expected the bluenette to toss the ball away and just sock him, but that didn’t happen, no. It was much worse. Once the ball fell through the net, Aomine started his “I won” rant and hadn’t stopped ever since. Taiga would seriously prefer a knee in the guts.

  And The Most Annoying Man on the Earth award goes to..

  “.. but you’re not that bad yourself.”

  “Really? Good to know.” He heard himself chuckle. He was still kinda short of breath and his shirt was fucking soaked. Gross. He could hardly go to Maji’s looking like that, they’d only kick him out. It was a great thing that he foreseen this stupid situation and brought a spare shirt. Haha, who’s the winner now?

  “You play a lot, huh?”

  “Hmm.” The shirt was hidden under his towel and the empty water bottle, dry and inviting, smelling like his American detergent. Marseille soap. Did they sell such things in Japan? Taiga wasn’t sure. He should write it down, or even better, he should write down all the stuff he had yet to buy to his new place.

  Somewhere behind him, Aomine piped: “Wanna do it again? Tomorrow?”

  No. This whole thing was stupid, really. Taiga shucked the drenched shirt off and tossed it into the sports bag, haphazardly, then grabbed the towel and got rid of the sweat trickling down his back. He didn’t like this whole situation a single bit. The fact that dad found this pretty sucker endearing enough to pay for his company still left a bitter taste on his tongue, more so when he remembered the enormous age gap and how unfazed they both were about it. It was sick. Taiga didn’t want to have anything to do with it. With neither of them. He threw on the clean shirt and zipped the sports bag shut.

  He had to cut this nonsense off.

  “Don’t you have school or something? Homework?” He turned to face the bluenette, but Aomine wasn’t watching him. He was frowning at his arm – the bad one – massaging it with nimble fingers and his lower lip was jutting out. It was a strange sight. Was he in pain? Probably, if the hissing was anything to go by. Long, chocolate fingers pressed against the smooth skin on the inside of his elbow. The complexion was slightly lighter here, more cappuccino than chocolate, but nonetheless mesmerizing. “I got psychology seminar in the morning, ‘till ten a.m. You should play with your left the next time.” Persistent shit. How could he be so sure there was going to be any next time? Well, fuck. Taiga let out a short huff. Sending Aomine to proper places became twice as hard when he was acting like that.

  “No date?”

  _Bingo_. Aomine’s head whipped up at the d-word. For a fleeting second, Taiga thought he won. They were talking about Friday evening, for fuck’s sake, the guy will surely have some kind of plans. Sure, Taiga knew first-hand that words like _weekend_ or _holiday_ hardly mattered to dad, so he shouldn’t be that surprised when Aomine shrugged: “He’s out of town.” Great, so he was sneaking out with dad’s date when he wasn’t being around, just wow.

  “So?” Blue eyes locked with his own, unwavering. There was something hidden behind that gaze, something Taiga tried, wanted, needed to ignore, for the sake of his own sanity. Aomine let go of his forearm, stretched it, probably to ease whatever cramping and Taiga was once again taken aback by the unnatural angle. Insane. Memories from their last encounter flooded his mind, the softness of Aomine’s skin under his fingertips when he inspected the damage, the glimpse of sorrow he saw behind those blue irises and most of all the simple statement: _I just can’t play anymore._

  What would he do if he couldn’t play? Taiga didn’t want to even imagine that. His whole life pretty much revolved around basketball and he had no idea what would he do if he _just couldn’t play anymore_. He’d probably go crazy. Then, if someone emerged and played with him, even though it was something as stupid and childish as the one-hand-play rule they set, he’d be probably overjoyed. Of course he’d try to hold onto that. Yeah, on this level he understood the bluenette. It would be nice if Aomine tried to understand him, too.

  One perfect eyebrow slowly rose up at him, taunting. “C’mon, you wanna make me beg?”

  Fuck vivid imagination.

  The pretty shithead batted his stupidly long lashes at him. Taiga was sure it was only in his imagination, but one could never be sure with Aomine, right? “Stop it. It’s not gonna work. I fucking hate you.”

  “Stop what? I’m not doing anything.” Yeah, not doing anything Taiga’s ass. “I hate you, too. So what? You gonna play with me or not?! Or are you afraid that I might wipe the concrete with you, huh, Tai~ga?”

  And that was it. He basically shouted “fine!” just to stop that stupid rant from continuing. “Fine! Alright! Just shut up.” Seriously, two more words and he’d have to silence the tan freak by force. “When did you say you end?”

  Aomine made a face. “But you just told me to shut up.”

  He’d be fucking great lawyer. Taiga took a deep breath and was about to inform the asshole what he thought about his childish banter when the idiot added: “At ten. I end at ten.”

  “Okay, then be there after ten.”

  Now don’t get him wrong, it wasn't because Aomine's weak and probably unreal seduction tricks. Taiga would agree to play anyway, eventually – the bluenette was the only basketball-playing person he knew in this damn country and he was itching to get onto the court any time of the day, plus, he could use some drills before he started in the NBL. Aomine was perfect for that. Aside from his crazy speed and that magic wrist flicks, he also had this annoying little habit of uttering pieces of advice there and there, every time he noticed Taiga did something wrong, at least in his opinion. The worst thing was that the fucker was right ninety percent of the time and even though Taiga would love to deny it, these bits of insult-wrapped wisdom really happened to be useful.

  The bluenette flashed him a thousand-megawatt smile. “Bet your ass I’ll be there!” Taiga had to admit that he lost his train of thoughts for a moment because of it. Until now, Aomine had never smiled at him _that_ way. He smirked, snarled and occasionally, when Taiga made particularly good move in their game, flashed a grin that could only be described as feral. It’s not like Taiga had never seen him smile before - back at the hotel, Aomine would smile at dad all the time, blinding and all sparkly-eyed as if he were genuinely happy to be there, with him – he’d just never happened to be on the receiving end of it. 

  “You’ll bring the ball, right? I don’t wanna drag it to school.”

  What was this stupid kid doing with his dad, again? No, wait, he didn’t want to know.

  “Yeah,” he breathed out, “I’ll bring the ball.”

  It might be only about basketball, yet still, Taiga had the feeling that he just bought a one-way ticket to hell.  

 

* * *

 

  “Had a good day? You seem in high spirits.”

  “Yeah, it was cool.” Daiki rolled onto his back, fingers of his right firmly clutching the smartphone. The bed sheets were chilly against his naked back and he wallowed in the sensation for a while, let the coolness seep into his overheated muscles. Once again, he was sore. It was ironic, really - he had never been so sore after practice, heh, he’d never been so sore after any of his matches – and part of him wanted to laugh about it out loud, only if his midriff wasn’t hurting so bad. The one-on-ones with Taiga reminded him how out of shape he actually was without all the regular drills. Work outs might help him keep his looks, but they’ll hardly help him with agility. Damn, he needed to get back onto the track!

  “What were you up to all day?” Kagami-san sighed at the other end of the line. There was a rustling noise, but Daiki didn’t feel like pondering about what it was. He was genuinely surprised when the man called this late in the evening. His voice was cracking and he was obviously tired, yet he still called him only because he wanted to hear his voice. Such a sweet man! It seemed as if today couldn’t get any better.

  “School stuff. Psychology, mainly, but that was boring,” he didn’t want to whine, but hey, it was true! “I took some stupid dark triad test and you know what?”

  “What?”

  “It said I’m narcissistic!” Now he really was whining, but it didn’t matter since Kagami-san chuckled that mean little chuckle of his and said: “You’re allowed to. You’re beautiful.”

  Daiki swallowed the _right?!_ that was trying to cross his lips, smile growing even wider. “Thanks. How ‘bout your day?” That was a good, safe question. Kagami-san started describing the long-ass meeting and some golf match he won. Daiki could hear the joy in his voice, kind of child-like, and when he closed his eyes, he thought he could recall even his kind smile and warm, crimson eyes. Yeah. He listened to the man’s voice closely, paid attention to every dip and every exhale, let his mind wander along freely until he was drowning in red, in heated gazes and competitive sparks and the sweetest kind of excitement that came along with the thrill of a good game, with Taiga chasing after him on the court-

  “Fuck!”

  “Is everything alright?”

  No, no fucking way was that alright! Not in this reality nor in any other fucking universe. What the fuck was that?! Was he crazy?! No, breathe, calm down, this all had one perfectly logic explanation. Basketball was exciting and he thought about the red fucker only because of the game! That, and because he reminded him of Kagami-san so much. Yeah, that’s it. He just missed the older man, that was all. Cool.

  “Daiki, are you alright? Talk to me.”

  “Uh.. yeah, yeah, I’m okay,” he rambled. Quick, think! Use that stupid imagination to something good for once! “I just saw the biggest spider ever, like, fist-sized spider! No shit, I almost died!”

  He was quite unsure whether the laughter that rang in his ear made him feel better or actually even worse. “You’re too cute.” Worse. Definitely worse. “Is it gone now?”

  “Y-yeah,” he lied through his teeth, “it went under the bed. Fucking monster.”

  “Your inner plumber is showing.”

  Fuck, right! Fuck Taiga, fuck spiders and fuck swearing. “Sorry.”

  Kagami-san made some kind of grunting noise. Silence settled afterwards, dragged for half a minute or more, but Daiki didn’t dare to disrupt it. His heart was still recovering from the near heart-attack he just suffered thanks to the redhead asshole popping up unannounced – and definitely unwanted – in the middle of his fantasy. Daiki knew the redhead was salty about his relationship with Kagami-san, but sabotaging it this way, that was too low even for such a shit like him.

  “Tell me,” Kagami-san started after a while, carefully pronouncing every word, “what are you wearing?”

  Oh.

  He didn’t expect the conversation to turn this way when he answered the call. What should he say? How do you play along with such things?! Should he try to sound flirtatious, too? How the hell was he supposed to respond?! You know what? Fuck it! Daiki chose to be honest this time. “Trunks.”

  “That’s all?” He could almost see the split eyebrows quirk at him.

  “Yeah, I, uh.. I was just going to sleep, so yeah, that’s all.”

  “Take them off.”

  He couldn’t say that the command caught him off-guard, no, somewhere in the back of his mind, he saw it coming. That didn’t mean he wasn’t a bit startled once he really heard Kagami-san say it out loud. The firmness of his voice made Daiki’s breath hitch. It was a soft sound, almost inaudible in the loud silence of his apartment, but the man on the other end of line caught it immediately. “Would you do it for me, Daiki? Is this alright with you?”

  “Sure.” He could do this. It was like jerking off, no big deal, right? It’s not like anyone could see him or anything, so he put down the phone, it’s display lighting the darkened room for a second, and dragged the piece of underwear down his thighs, knees and finally ankles before tossing it away completely.

  This was new. Exciting, yes, but also kind of terrifying. Daiki had never been good with words, aside from witty remarks and they’d hardly get him through this. The sheets under his naked form were no longer cold, but that didn’t stop the shivers from running down his body, from the nape of his neck down to his groin, nestling there in a pool of anticipation. “Done.”

  The answer came immediately. “Such a good boy for me,” Kagami-san’s deep, gruff voice purred from the speaker, “so beautiful. Now, slowly trail your hands down your stomach. Ever so slow, that’s right. Now, over your hips. Spread your legs for me, would you? Knees up, nice and wide, yeah, that’s it. So hot. God, I want to be there with you so much right now. Oh, and put it on speaker, you’ll need both hands. Got it? Great! Alright boy, now lie back and listen to me..”

 


End file.
